REMINISCENCES   OF 

Senator  William  M.  Stewart 

OF   NEVADA 


REMINISCENCES    OF 


Senator  William   M.  Stewart 


OF  NEVADA 


Edited  by 
GEORGE  ROTHWELL  BROWN 


NEW  YORK  AND  WASHINGTON 

THE  NEALE  PUBLISHING  COMPANY 
1908 


COPYRIGHT,  1908,  BY 
WILLIAM  M.   STEWART 


ancron  LIT 
/1AY  3  I  1918 


DEDICATION 

This  book  is  dedicated  to  my  mother,  Mrs.  Miranda 
Stewart,  whose  early  training  was  the  only  preparation 
I  had  for  the  battle  of  life.  Her  discipline  was  strict, 
but  not  unkind.  She  was  patient  and  gave  good  reasons 
for  what  she  required  of  her  children;  was  firm  and 
commanded  their  respect  and  obedience.  Her  conduct 
through  life  was  guided  by  her  best  judgment.  If  I  had 
always  kept  in  view  the  rules  of  conduct  which  she 
prescribed  I  would  have  made  few  mistakes.  Her 
teachings,  so  far  as  I  have  been  guided  by  them,  have 
been  of  great  service  to  me  during  the  whole  course  of 
my  life. 

Whatever  of  good  I  may  have  accomplished  was 
inspired  by  my  dear  mother  at  an  early  period  of  my 
existence. 

WILLIAM  M.  STEWART. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER  I. 

Birth — My  mother — Early  memories — Hunting  with  Rover — A 
fortune  in  coon-skins 21 

CHAPTER  II. 

I  am  cheated  by  a  sanctimonious  deacon — Joshua  Giddings  in 
spires  me  with  the  ambition  to  be  an  orator — I  leave  home 
and  begin  the  battle  of  life — School —  I  do  a  man's  work,  and 
save  money 26 

CHAPTER  III. 

Herding  cattle — First  visit  to  a  great  city — I  win  fame  as  a 
harvester  and  lay  my  rivals  out — Student  and  school  teacher — 
An  unruly  pupil  floored — I  enter  Yale — College  pranks .33 

CHAPTER  IV. 

Gold  fever — I  determine  to  go  to  California — Storm  off  Hatteras 
— Arrival  in  Panama — A  priest  and  a  cock  flght — Gambling 
in  San  Francisco — In  desperate  straits — 111  with  fever,  I 
struggle  to  the  gold  diggings — Money  in  sick  miners — My  first 
claim  48 

CHAPTER  V. 

The  lead  struck — I  defend  my  rights — The  first  woman  in  camp 
— "Oh,  Joe!" — Three  thousand  dollars  for  the  timid  female 
Brisk  matrimonial  market — Ten  divorces  in  one  afternoon — 
Starting  a  frontier  aristocracy 60 

CHAPTER  VI. 

Scourge  in  the  Diggings — Prospecting  in  the  Sierra  Nevadas — 
Grizzly  Ditch— Lost  in  a  blizzard— Ham-bone  soup  for  starv 
ing  men — An  arrow  through  my  hat — Indians — We  wipe  put 
Chief  "Big  Jim's"  band— A  ghastly  discovery— Surveying 
without  instruments 68 

CHAPTER  VII. 

I  begin  the  practice  of  law— Appointed  District  Attorney— A 
fight  in  the  court-room — I  polish  my  legal  knowledge  in  jail- 
— The  heathen  Chinee — I  meet  an  obstacle  in  a  murder  case.. 76 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

Fight  over  a  mining  claim — An  outcast  from  camp— I  prevent 
a  mob  from  lynching  an  innocent  man — Nominated  for 
District  Attorney— Elected— Hot  politics  and  a  bloody  battle 
—Heroes  with  the  girls 82 


10  Contents 

CHAPTER  IX. 

Dueling  in  1852— Southerners  and  "mackerel  catchers"— The 
sleepy  miner  and  the  fire-eater  who  would  not  fight — I  start 
a  newspaper  in  opposition  to  Aaron  A.  Sargent 89 

CHAPTER  X. 

Zeke  Dougherty's  court — Profanity  from  the  bench  and  frontier 
justice — I  get  the  drop  on  a  desperado  witness — Johnny 
Little's  court  in  Cy  Brown's  saloon,  where  I  win  a  lawsuit 
with  a  demijohn  of  whiskey 95 

CHAPTER  XL 

Reign  of  terror  in  San  Francisco — Judge  Botts  changes  his 
politics — The  most  eloquent  man  in  America,  and  how  a 
citizen  of  California  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate 
from  Oregon — My  marriage — I  clear  a  murderer  and  get  the 
jury  in  trouble " 103 

CHAPTER  XII. 

I  become  interested  in  politics-v-Governor  Bigler  insulted — Ap 
pointed  Attorney-General — Terry  and  Broderick  duel — A 
tragedy  in  a  hair-trigger — Crabb's  expedition  to  Mexico 116 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

Discovery  of  the  Comstock — Rush  to  the  new  diggings — Out 
rages  by  the  Indians — Piute  war — An  ambush  in  a  canyon — 
A  volunteer  army  and  a  treaty  of  peace — California  admitted 
to  the  Union — Origin  of  mining  laws 123 

CHAPTER  XIV. 

Comstock  lode  fortified — Trouble  brewing — I  get  the  drop  on  a 
"bad  man" — A  desperado  who  killed  sixteen  men  in  one 
winter — A  brave  Dutchman — The  terror  of  the  camp — Rival 
judges  and  mixed  justice 129 

CHAPTER  XV. 

Making  Nevada  a  territory— I  help  to  locate  the  Capital— The 
great  flood  of  1861— I  lose  my  fortune  in  a  night— Frightful 
journey  on  foot  to  San  Francisco  in  blizzard — Borrow  $30,000 
and  get  a  new  start— Half  a  million  in  fees  in  one  case 140 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

Chollar  and  Potosi  controversy — Exposure  of  bribed  jurors — I 
turn  the  tables  on  my  enemies — Three  judges  resign  in  one 
day — $14,000  in  greenbacks  for  information — The  jockey 
skips  I52 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

Condemned  to  death  by  a  mob  of  miners  at  Virginia  City— I 
master  the  situation  and  prove  the  strength  of  my  friends- 
Nevada  becomes  a  State— Elected  to  the  United  States 
Senate  December  15,  1864— I  draw  the  long  term 164 


Contents  11 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

Lincoln  as  I  knew  him — Stanton  and  the  rich  Israelite — A  White 
House  joke  on  a  couple  of  Senatorial  wits — Lincoln's  method 
of  transacting  business — No  cabinet  officers,  only  messenger 
boys— The  President's  joke  on  Alexander  H.  Stephens- 
Peace  Conference  at  Fortress  Monroe — The  new  Cabinet — 
Horace  Greeley  grows  wise 168 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

Zach  Chandler's  conspiracy  to  invade  Canada — An  army  of 
Grant's  and  Lee's  veterans  to  whip  the  British — Farragut 
and  the  Charleston  mines — Sheridan  characterizes  the  French 
army  as  a  mob — With  Lincoln  at  City  Point — A  dash  on  the 
Rebel  lines 177 

CHAPTER  XX. 

Assassination  of  Lincoln — His  last  written  words  a  message  to 
me — Reign  of  terror — Washington  on  the  verge  of  a  bloody 
battle  between  Federal  and  Confederate  soldiers — How  a 
drunken  man  was  sworn  in  as  President — Johnson's  quarrel 
with  Congress 186 

CHAPTER  XXL 

The  War  Senate — Pen  pictures  of  the  great  leaders  of  the 
nation — Thad.  Stevens  and  his  domestic  scandal — Conkling 
and  Elaine,  and  Congressional  jealousies — The  corpse  was 
dry — Senator  McDougall's  tribute  to  whiskey 201 

CHAPTER  XXII. 

Slavery — Plans  of  reconstruction — Congress  in  confusion — The 
breach  with  Johnson  widens — A  consultation  with  Alex 
ander  H.  Stephens — Senate  debates — Dark  days  after  the 
war — Governor  Andrew  of  Massachussetts  endorses  my 
amendment  213 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 

Mark  Twain  becomes  my  secretary — Back  from  the  Holy  Land, 
and  he  looks  it — The  landlady  terrorized — I  interfere  with 
a  humorist's  pleasures,  and  get  a  black  patch— Revenge ! 
Clemens  the  hero  of  a  Nevada  hold-up 219 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution— Explanation  of  my 
vote — Military  bill  passed  the  House — Opposition  to  martial 
law — President  Johnson  vetoed 225 

CHAPTER  XXV. 

General  Grant  elected  President— Re-elected  to  the  Senate  in 
1869— Conference  with  Grant— I  write  the  Fifteenth  amend 
ment — Its  passage  by  Congress — Grant's  Inaugural  recom 
mendation  on  negro  suffrage 231 


12  Contents 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 

I  am  denounced  by  Charles  Sumner— An  overestimated  states 
man — My  reply  to  him  in  the  Senate — How  Lincoln  played 
on  Sumner's  vanity — Sumner's  denunciation  of  Grant  at  a 
dinner  to  the  British  Commission — He  is  disposed  from 
important  Senate  chairmanship — A  State  secret 237 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 

With  Grant  on  the  Pacific  Coast— White  House  Conferences 
— I  decline  a  Supreme  Court  appointment — The  Apaches 
on  the  war-path— Confirmation  of  Tom  Murphy— A  dramatic 
scene  in  the  Senate — Conkling  threatens  to  expose  Fenton — 
A  mock  fight  in  the  Senate  to  save  a  friend 250 

CHAPTER  XXVIII. 

Retire  from  the  Senate  and  return  to  Nevada — Mining  in  the 
Panamint — I  buy  a  mine  from  bandits,  and  secure  their 
friendship — Silver  cannon-balls  foil  the  outlaws — Back  to  the 
law — The  cow-boy  reign  in  Arizona — Cattle  thieves  and 
litigation  261 

CHAPTER  XXIX. 

Trip  to  Sonora,  Mexico,  in  search  of  mines — I  borrow  an 
"Injun"  dog — An  old  Spaniard's  story — Origin  of  the  Apaches 
and  how  they  got  their  courage — A  brave  Chinaman 268 

CHAPTER  XXX. 

A  celebrated  breach  of  promise  suit — The  killing  of  Judge 
Terry — Again  a  candidate  for  the  Senate — Reply  to  attacks 
by  Senator  Fair  on  my  character — Reflected  to  the  Senate 
in  1887 — Career  in  that  body — A  total  service  of  twenty- 
nine  years 274 

CHAPTER  XXXI. 

Return  to  the  Senate — The  demonetization  of  silver — Exposure 
of  John  Sherman — How  he  deceived  Congress — I  offer  a  bill 
to  restore  silver . .  . .  284 


CHAPTER  XXXII. 

Nomination  of  Benjamin  Harrison — How  John  Sherman  was 
beaten  for  the  Presidency — Harrison's  pledge  for  free  coinage 
and  how  he  repudiated  it — Debate  with  Reagan — Lodge's 
"Force"  bill 292 

CHAPTER  XXXIII. 

Force  bill  resumed — Side-tracked  for  silver  with  aid  of  new 
Senators  from  Idaho — Trip  to  New  York  to  pair  Senator 
Stanford  against  Force  bill — I  outwit  Senator  Aldrich — 
Confirmation  of  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar 299 


Contents  13 

CHAPTER  XXXIV. 

Harrison's  infidelity  to  pledge — His  capacity  to  repel  both 
friends  and  foes — Cleveland's  panic — The  fall  of  Congress 
into  the  arms  of  the  gold  trust — My  protest  against  the 
Gladstone-Cleveland  bondholding  combination 310 

CHAPTER  XXXV. 

The  money  question — Adherence  to  principle  regardless  of  party 
— Supply  of  money  a  necessity,  enormous  output  of  gold 
furnished  that  supply — Conversion  of  my  critics  to  the  views 
I  advocated  in  1900 — No  more  office  for  me 316 

CHAPTER  XXXVI. 

Cleveland's  bond  speculations  and  yenezuela  deal — His  repudia 
tion  by  the  Democratic  Convention  of  1896 — The  nomination 
of  Bryan  on  a  free-coinage  platform — His  brilliant  campaign 
and  defeat  by  lavish  use  of  money  by  the  gold  trust — 
Bryan's  mistake  in  advocating  silver  money  after  the  enor 
mous  output  of  gold  made  money  plenty 320 

CHAPTER  XXXVII. 

The  Pacific  Railroad — Jefferson  Davis's  survey — Collis  P.  Hunt- 
ington — Crossing  the  Rockies — Rivalry  of  the  companies — 
Credit  Mobilier  scandal — Investigation  by  Congress — Begin 
ning  of  railroad  descrimination  against  the  people 332 

CHAPTER  XXXVIII. 

Conflict  between  the  railroads  and  the  Government — How  the 
trusts  rob  the  people — An  argument  for  government  owner 
ship  a  gloomy  view  of  the  economic  situation — Praise  for 
Theodore  Roosevelt 342 

CHAPTER   XXXIX. 


Irrigation  investigations  in  the  arid  regions — Marvels  of  the 
Mormons— Major  Powell  grows  ambitious  and  is  removed 
from  office — A  powerful  friend  in  the  White  House — What 
Roosevelt  has  done  for  the  development  of  the  country. ..  .347 

CHAPTER  XL. 

Conclusion — The  Pious  Fund  Case — I  argue  before  the  Hague 
Court  of  Arbitration — A  tribute  to  the  Dutch — I  retire  from 
the  Senate — Back  to  the  Nevada  gold  fields 356 


INTRODUCTION 

When  one  has  reached  the  age  of  eighty-three  years, 
and  is  rounding  out  with  honor  and  dignity  a  career 
extending  over  three  generations,  marked  not  only  by 
the  picturesque  adventures  of  youth,  but  by  the  signal 
services  of  a  statesman  to  his  country  in  maturity,  it 
becomes  at  once  his  privilege  and  his  duty  to  tell  the 
story  of  his  life.  It  is  a  rare  combination — a  story 
worth  telling  and  the  courage  to  tell  it  without  preju 
dice.  With  the  exception  of  General  Grant,  I  do  not 
believe  a  man  has  appeared  in  public  life  during  the 
past  half  century,  so  well  equipped  to  leave  to  posterity 
a  record  of  great  value  as  is  William  M.  Stewart,  of 
whose  long  span  the  twenty-nine  years  spent  in  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  while  perhaps  the  most 
important,  were  by  no  means  the  most  interesting. 

Here  is  a  man,  who,  on  the  score  of  seniority,  has 
the  right  to  be  heard.  Were  he  an  unschooled  farmer 
he  would  have  by  virtue  of  his  gray  hair,  a  story  of 
pregnant  interest,  rich  with  the  experience  and  philoso 
phy  of  life.  But  since  he  is  one  of  the  most  brilliant 
and  accomplished  men  of  his  time,  and  one  whose 
influence  has  helped  to  shape  the  destinies  of  the  Repub 
lic,  his  prerogative  must  be  unquestioned.  Endowed 
with  a  perfect  physique,  enduring  health,  and  tre 
mendous  bodily  strength,  he  has  been  able  to  defy  the 
enemy  which  has  overcome,  one  by  one,  all  the  associates 
of  his  generation,  while  preserving  in  full  the  power  and 
force  of  his  great  intellectuality. 

William  M.  Stewart  took  his  seat  in  the  United  States 
Senate  February  i,  1865,  when  Nevada,  the  State  of 
his  adoption,  and  which  he  made  his  own  so  com 
pletely  that  for  years  he  held  it  in  the  hollow  of  his 


16  Introduction 

hand,  was  admitted  into  the  Union.  He  was  then 
about  forty  years  of  age.  At  that  time  he  must  have 
been  a  Hercules.  At  eighty-three  he  is  as  straight  as 
a  juniper,  as  hard  as  a  blacksmith,  as  keen  of  eye  as  an 
eagle,  and  he  has  not  lost  one  inch  in  height  since  that 
day,  forty-three  years  ago,  he  stood  before  Hannibal 
Hamlin  to  take  the  oath  of  office,  a  commanding  pic 
ture  of  magnificent  manhood. 

Born  in  a  log  cabin  in  a  wilderness,  of  old  Colonial 
stock,  at  the  age  of  ten  he  began  the  battle  of  life, 
and  did  a  man's  work,  and,  inured  by  privations  and 
hardships,  he  laid  the  foundation  of  that  superb  ani 
malism  which,  in  later  years,  when  a  miner  with  pick 
and  shovel  in  the  gold  diggings  of  California,  was  to 
make  him  a  master  of  men  in  an  environment  in  which 
the  weakling  went  down,  the  average  had  no  chance, 
and  only  the  fittest  could  survive. 

Personal  bravery  played  a  leading  part  in  his  success. 
The  same  audacity  and  courage  with  which  he  met  the 
tribulations  of  the  poor  farm  boy,  conquered  unruly 
bullies  as  a  country  schoolmaster,  plodded  his  weary 
way  toward  education,  and,  penniless,  and  broken  with 
fever,  began  the  search  for  gold  in  an  alien  land,  stood 
by  him  throughout  life.  On  one  occasion  his  entire 
fortune  of  half  a  million  dollars  was  swept  away  in  a 
flood.  There  could  be  nothing  more  typically  American 
than  the  fortitude  with  which  he  faced  this  catastrophe. 
Before  the  debris  of  his  mining  plant  had  vanished  in 
the  boiling  river,  he  had  started,  on  foot,  on  a  journey 
of  three  hundred  miles  across  the  Sierra  Nevada  range, 
while  there  raged  one  of  the  most  appalling  storms 
in  the  history  of  California.  His  course  was  beset  by 
all  the  dangers  of  landslides  and  swollen  streams.  He 
reached  San  Francisco,  where,  his  only  security  his 
good  name  and  a  flooded  mine,  he  borrowed  the  money 
to  start  life  anew.  Then  he  retraced  that  perilous  trail, 
returned  to  his  camp,  met  all  his  obligations,  and  paid 


Introduction  17 

his  men,  before  his  enemies,  who  would  have  been  glad 
to  ruin  him,  had  themselves  recovered  from  the  effects 
of  the  great  disaster. 

Senator  Stewart  has  always  been  a  man  of  restless 
energy.  He  inherited  a  splendid  mind,  and,  even  as  a 
boy,  he  had  a  thirst  for  knowledge,  a  thirst  which  has 
never  been  slaked.  At  eighty-three  he  is  the  same  serious 
student  as  at  thirteen,  when  he  left  his  father's  roof  to 
seek  employment  as  a  woodchopper,  that  he  might 
earn  the  money  to  go  to  school.  At  twenty-two  he  was 
in  Yale,  and  when,  for  the  time  being,  he  abandoned 
books  to  go  to  California  in  '49,  encountering  hardships 
no  college  boy  of  to-day  would  undergo,  he  took  his 
place  as  leader  among  his  associates,  not  only  because 
of  the  sinew  of  his  mighty  right  arm,  but  because  of 
his  native  shrewdness,  intelligence,  and  education. 

In  the  mad  scramble  for  wealth  in  the  treasure  vaults 
of  El  Dorado,  young  Stewart  was  in  the  fore,  and 
obtained  his  share.  To-day  he  might  be  a  money-hoard 
ing,  cold-blooded  pirate  of  high  finance,  for  in  him  the 
money-making  instinct  is  highly  developed.  But  the 
man  is  at  heart  a  romantic  adventurer;  he  plays  the 
game  of  speculation  for  the  game  itself,  and  not  for 
the  spoils;  his  pleasure  is  not  gold,  but  the  getting  of 
it.  Probably  no  man  in  the  United  States  has  won  and 
lost  more  fortunes  than  William  M.  Stewart.  Had  he 
been  less  of  a  Robinson  Crusoe,  to-day  he  might  be  a 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  with 
a  longer  term  of  service  to  his  credit  than  any  man  has 
had.  In  1871  President  Grant  tendered  him  an  appoint 
ment  to  that  Bench,  which  he  declined.  He  preferred 
the  greater  action  and  hazard  which  went  with  the  toga 
of  a  Senator  and  the  overalls  of  a  miner.  But  had  he 
accepted,  his  reputation  as  a  lawyer  could  not  have  been 
increased,  although  he  would  have  been  an  honor  to 
that  great  tribunal.  When  he  came  to  Washington  he 
had  to  his  fame  not  only  success  in  the  most  notable 


18  Introduction 

litigations  in  the  West,  but  the  distinction  of  being  the 
author  of  the  mining  laws  of  the  land,  laws  which  he 
framed  so  ably  that  they  stand,  even  now,  a  monument 
to  legal  genius  of  which  any  man  well  might  boast. 

The  years  spent  in  the  Golden  West  were  golden 
years,  indeed.  Many  years  after  his  arrival  in  the 
promised  land — years  during  which  he  carried  his  life 
in  his  hands  with  reckless  abandon;  years  during  which 
he  fought  Indians,  battled  with  bandits,  organized  and 
enforced  rude  frontier  justice,  playing  a  man's  part  in 
a  man's  life — many  years  after  he  had  planted  his  pick 
in  Grizzly  Ditch,  Mark  Twain  and  Bret  Harte,  called 
"pioneers,"  appeared  upon  the  scene,  and  wrote  the 
stories  this  blue-eyed,  iron-fisted,  fearless  giant  helped 
enact. 

I  seem  to  see  him  now,  with  a  derringer  in  each  hand, 
cowing  the  bully  of  the  camp,  a  man  who  had  sixteen 
notches  in  the  handle  of  his  "gun,"  and  was  generally 
reputed  to  be  a  stranger  to  fear.  Many  other  men, 
since  then,  including  one  who  had  been  a  President 
of  the  United  States,  have  quailed  under  the  lightning 
flash  from  Stewart's  eye.  It  is  a  mild  blue  eye 
when  he  is  at  peace  with  the  world,  an  eye  that  makes 
children  smile,  and  lift  up  their  arms  to  him ;  but  when 
his  shaggy  brows  are  in  a  frown, — well  the  slayer  of 
those  sixteen  men  laughed  away  the  pistols  with  a  jest, 
and  said:  "I  like  your  kind;  have  a  drink!" 

Nevada  joined  the  Sisterhood  long  before  her  right 
ful  turn  because  Northern  leaders  saw  that  her  votes 
would  be  required  in  the  adoption  of  Constitutional 
amendments  to  be  proposed  when  the  War  of  Secession 
was  at  an  end.  William  M.  Stewart,  politician  as  well 
as  statesman,  had  been  in  the  thick  of  Territorial  dis 
putes,  and,  when  another  Star  was  called  to  the  Blue, 
he  came  to  Washington,  her  first  Senator,  to  pin  it  there. 

It  is  possible  that  he  did  not  find  Washington,  in 
1865,  materially  different  from  California  in  1850.  As 


Introduction  19 

the  bitter  struggle  for  riches  in  the  golden  gullies  had 
smelted  out  only  men  of  might,  and  strength,  and  deter 
mination,  so  had  the  crisis  in  the  Nation's  affairs  brought 
to  the  surface  in  the  Capital  the  ablest  minds  of  the  time. 
Young  Stewart,  having  taken  his  seat,  found  himself 
removed  from  an  atmosphere  of  primitive  contention, 
to  a  condition  akin  to  it,  a  condition  growing  out  of  the 
war.  In  a  short  time,  so  well  did  he  conduct  himself, 
and  with  so  fine  a  skill  and  comprehension  did  he  enter 
into  the  spirit  of  his  surroundings,  he  found  himself 
in  a  conspicuous  position,  similar  to  that  he  had  always 
occupied,  whether  on  the  farm,  in  the  schoolroom,  in  the 
mining  camp,  or  in  the  court-house. 

Some  of  the  greatest  men  the  Republic  has  produced 
were  his  playfellows  in  the  Senate,  playfellows  in  a 
great  game  with  Destiny,  and  when  he  coped  with  them, 
he  found  himself  the  peer  of  all,  the  superior  of  many. 
Vice-President  Hamlin,  Buckalew,  Cowan,  Foot,  Rev- 
erdy  Johnson,  John  P.  Hale,  John  Sherman,  Thomas 
A.  Hendricks,  Benjamin  F.  Wade,  William  Pitt  Fes- 
senden,  these  were  the  men  grouped  about  him  in  that 
historic  forum — the  War  Senate. 

Throughout  the  closing  days  of  the  War,  and  dur 
ing  the  frightful  period  of  Reconstruction,  Senator 
Stewart  was  the  consistent  friend  of  the  South,  although 
himself  a  strong  Union  man.  Perhaps  his  most  signal 
contribution  in  that  period  was  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment  to  the  Constitution,  of  which  he  is  the  author. 
Hardly  less  notable,  later  on,  was  his  defeat  of  the 
Force  Bill. 

Now  that  he  has  come  to  write  of  his  colleagues,  all 
of  whom  have  long  since  passed  away,  who  will 
begrudge  him  consent  to  paint  them  as  they  were,  not 
as  new  generations  have  been  taught  to  regard  them? 
If  Andrew  Johnson  was  a  drunkard,  and  broke  his 
pledged  word  at  a  critical  time,  is  it  not  just  the  world 
should  see  him  in  his  moral  nakedness?  If  Charles 


20  Introduction 

Sumner  was  a  vain,  petulant,  over-grown  boy,  an  incon 
sequential  busy-body  clothed  in  pompous  impotency,  dis 
graced  by  his  fellow  Republicans  for  his  discourtesy, 
even  treachery,  to  the  President  of  the  United  States, 
why  should  not  his  true  character  be  laid  bare,  and  the 
truth  about  him  told,  in  the  interest  of  history  ? 

Senator  Stewart  has  no  apologies  to  make.  He  has 
told  the  truth  as  he  has  seen  it,  and  he  has  told  it  not 
for  the  love  of  hitting  every  head  in  sight,  but  because 
it  is  his  privilege  to  tell  the  truth,  the  honored  privilege 
of  honored  age.  A  blow  with  a  cudgel,  here  and  there, 
where  a  good  lick  is  richly  deserved,  but  for  the  greater 
part  of  the  journey — for  the  greater  part  of  the  book, 
from  cover  to  cover, — smiles  and  good  nature.  Smiles 
and  good  nature. — The  story  of  a  successful  life,  a 
life  of  wide  and  enduring  influence. 

GEORGE  ROTHWELL  BROWN. 
Washington,  D.  C.,  March  27,  1908. 


CHAPTER  I 

Birth — My  mother — Early  memories — Hunting  with  Rover — A  for 
tune  in  coon-skins. 

I  was  born  August  9,  i82j,  in  a  log-house  at  Galen, 
Wayne  County,  New  York,  about  four  miles  to  the  east 
of  the  town  of  Lyons. 

My  father's  family  were  of  Scotch  origin,  and  were 
among  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts.  My  grand 
father  was  a  soldier  in  the  Revolution,  and  shortly  after 
peace  was  declared  he  moved  to  Vermont  and  settled 
upon  a  tract  of  land  where  he  with  his  family  resided 
many  years.  My  father,  Frederick  Augustus  Stewart, 
served  in  a  Vermont  regiment  during  the  war  of  1812. 
Soon  after  that  war  my  grandfather  was  killed  by  a 
cyclone  while  attempting  to  close  a  barn  door.  After 
his  death  the  family  made  an  exchange  of  their  land  m 
Vermont  for  a  tract  in  the  township  of  Galen,  Wayne 
County,  New  York,  to  which  they  removed. 

The  land  in  New  York  was  divided  among  the  family, 
my  father's  portion  being  something  over  one  hundred 
and  fifty  acres.  Soon  after  my  father  settled  there  he 
married  Miranda  Morris.  Her  father,  for  whom  I  was 
named,  was  William  Morris.  His  wife,  my  grand 
mother,  was  Miranda  Dodd,  a  Knickerbocker  of  New 
York. 

My  mother  had  great  strength  of  character,  and  her 
life  was  pure  and  honest.  She  loved  truth  and  justice 
and  never  told  a  falsehood.  She  spoke  ill  of  no  one; 
her  neighbors  had  perfect  confidence  in  her  and  fre 
quently  referred  to  her  as  an  arbitrator  in  their  family 
disputes.  She  reared  a  family  of  seven  children,  four 
girls  and  three  boys,  all  of  whom  are  dead  except  myself. 
Although  in  humble  circumstances  and  amid  pioneer 


22  Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart 

surroundings,  she  made  a  home  for  her  family  which 
was  always  well  provided  for  and  comfortable. 

I  refrained  from  taking  advantage  of  opportunities 
that  existed  to  inform  myself  in  regard  to  my  ancestors, 
on  account  of  the  disgust  I  felt  for  persons  of  no  conse 
quence  who  were  constantly  boasting  of  their  pedigrees. 

My  parents  lived  on  the  Galen  farm  until  I  was  six 
years  old,  when  it  was  ascertained  that  my  grandfather's 
land  in  Vermont,  which  had  been  exchanged  for  the 
New  York  land,  had  a  fatal  defect  in  the  title;  and  as 
the  title  to  the  land  in  Galen  depended  upon  the  title 
to  the  Vermont  land,  my  father  lost  his  farm. 

The  year  previous  to  this  loss  my  grandfather, 
William  Morris,  moved  from  his  home  in  Wayne 
County  to  Mesopotamia  Township,  Trumbull  County, 
Ohio,  where  my  father  followed  in  August,  1832. 
Although  I  was  only  seven  years  old  at  the  time  I 
distinctly  recollect  many  things  that  occurred  before  we 
moved  to  Ohio,  one  of  which  was  during  Jackson's 
second  campaign  in  1832. 

Political  excitement  was  very  intense.  We  had  a 
neighbor  whose  name  was  Pope,  a  very  earnest  Jackson 
man,  who  used  to  visit  our  house  and  amuse  himself 
with  my  brother  John,  then  three  years  old,  and  myself. 
He  would  make  John  stand  upon  a  table  and  declare 
that  he  was  a  Jackson  man  first,  last,  and  all  the  time, 
I  also  remember  going  to  Lyons  on  the  Fourth  of  July 
during  Jackson's  campaign,  seeing  the  procession,  and 
hearing  the  orators  make  speeches,  although  I  cannot 
now  remember  the  names  of  any  of  the  speakers.  I 
recently  visited  Lyons,  my  birthplace,  in  New  York,  and 
also  Mesopotamia  Township,  Ohio.  I  recognized  the 
familiar  landmarks  in  these  places,  but  was  able  to  find 
very  few  of  the  people  who  were  there  during  my 
childhood. 

Our  family  settled  on  the  banks  of  Grand  River,  in 
the  "backwoods."  The  fall  after  we  arrived  there,  an 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  23 

Englishman  who  moved  into  the  neighborhood  gave 
me  a  puppy  which  I  named  Rover,  and  which  turned 
out  to  be  a  great  treasure. 

The  country  around  Grand  River  was  remarkably 
prolific  in  wild  game,  particularly  coons.  When  the 
puppy  was  a  year  old — and  a  good,  sturdy,  sensible 
puppy  he  was — he  enjoyed  the  reputation  of  being  the 
best  coon  dog  in  the  neighborhood.  In  fact,  he  was  the 
only  coon  dog  which  amounted  to  anything  for  miles 
around.  I  was  a  youngster,  and  the  larger  boys  of  my 
acquaintance  looked  down  upon  me,  and  did  not  seem 
to  desire  my  company — until  Rover  evinced  great  skill 
in  hunting  coons.  I  think  that  about  that  time  I  became 
the  most  popular  boy  in  Trumbull  County. 

Every  day  the  coon  hunters,  who  had  formerly  scorned 
me,  fairly  showered  me  with  attentions.  They  begged 
my  mother  to  let  me  go  coon  hunting  with  them,  promis 
ing  that  they  would  take  good  care  of  me.  She  finally 
consented,  and  I  would  go  off  with  the  boys,  swelling 
with  pride.  Of  course  Rover  went  along.  In  fact, 
he  would  not  leave  me  to  go  with  anyone  else.  Pretty 
soon  I  began  thinking  about  this.  By  and  by  the  secret 
of  my  popularity  dawned  upon  me.  I  think  it  injured 
my  pride  at  first,  but  as  I  was  really  fond  of  coon 
hunting,  and  did  not  want  to  deprive  Rover  of  any 
pleasure,  I  thought  I  would  put  my  pride  in  my  pocket. 
As  balm  for  my  injured  feelings  I  made  a  contract  with 
the  boys  that  I  would  have  one-third  of  the  coons 
caught. 

It  was  a  mean  advantage  to  take  of  them,  and  I  have 
regretted  it  since.  After  all,  Rover  enjoyed  the  sport 
for  sport's  sake,  while  I  reduced  the  proposition  to 
sordid  commercialism. 

The  first  fall  we  caught  six  coons,  two  of  that  number 
being  my  share.  The  skins  were  worth  fifty  cents  apiece, 
and  the  oil  was  worth  nearly  as  much  more.  I  realized 
from  my  two  coons  $1.80,  which  was  the  first  money  I 


L'4  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

ever  earned,  and  being  only  nine  years  old  it  made  me 
quite  a  capitalist  in  those  days. 

I  expended  $1.20  for  shoes  for  myself  and  eldest 
sister.  The  shoes  were  rough  and  strong,  and  were 
made  by  a  traveling  shoemaker.  The  remaining  sixty 
cents  I  saved  for  General  Training  day,  which  was  a 
great  event  at  that  time.  The  militia  trained  at  Meso 
potamia  Center  the  following  spring,  where  I  enjoyed 
myself  almost  without  limit. 

An  elderly  woman  had  a  stand  where  she  sold  ginger 
bread  and  root  beer.  The  loaves  were  immense,  being 
from  five  to  six  inches  thick,  and  about  a  foot  across. 
A  big  section  cost  ten  cents.  I  bought  a  chunk  of  the 
gingerbread  and  a  large  pitcher  of  root  beer  and  invited 
my  friends  to  a  sumptuous  lunch,  which  we  devoured 
without  much  ceremony.  This  took  one-third  of  my 
capital  and  left  me  only  forty  cents,  which  I  gave  to  my 
mother,  telling  her  I  would  not  need  any  more  money 
until  "cooning  time"  came  again  in  the  fall. 

The  result  of  the  "cooning"  the  next  fall  was  very 
satisfactory.  We  killed  fifteen.  Although  we  slept  out 
many  nights,  and  wandered  up  and  down  through  the 
brush  and  swamps  of  Grand  River  for  fifteen  or  twenty 
miles,  we  did  not  mind  the  fatigue  because  the  sport 
was  fine. 

Rover  was  an  adept  in  the  art  of  catching  coons.  He 
caught  eight  or  ten  that  fall  in  cornfields  where  they 
were  doing  much  damage  to  the  crops,  and  he  ran  the 
others  up  trees  which  the  boys  chopped  down.  Rover 
invariably  got  his  coon  when  the  tree  fell.  If  the  tree 
was  a  large  one  Rover  and  I  would  lie  down  to  keep 
each  other  warm  while  the  boys  felled  it.  When  the 
tree  began  cracking  Rover  would  spring  up  and  place 
himself  where  the  top  would  fall,  and  never  failed  to 
nab  the  victim. 

My  share  of  the  coon  skins  and  the  oil  for  the  second 
year's  hunting  amounted  to  $4.35.  Three  dollars  of 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart          25 

this  was  expended  by  me  in  buying  shoes  for  myself 
and  my  brothers  and  sisters  when  the  cobbler  came  to 
our  house  in  the  fall.  I  bought  school-books  for  which 
I  paid  fifty  cents,  retaining  eighty-five  cents  to  spend  at 
the  General  Training  the  next  spring,  where  I  repeated 
my  dissipation  of  the  previous  year,  spending  twenty 
cents.  I  was  very  fond  of  General  Training,  because 
the  boys  and  men  indulged  in  all  kinds  of  sports,  such  as 
running,  jumping,  wrestling  and  boxing,  in  which  I  took 
a  very  active  part  at  an  early  age. 

During  the  summer  I  helped  my  father  on  the  farm 
at  all  sorts  of  work.  That  winter  I  went  to  common 
school  three  months,  and  returned  to  work  again  in 
the  spring.  Often  I  would  work  all  day  and  hunt  coons 
all  night. 


CHAPTER  II 

I  am  cheated  by  a  sanctimonious  deacon— Joshua  Giddings  inspires 
me  with  the  ambition  to  be  an  orator — I  leave  home  and  begin  the 
battle  of  life — School — I  do  a  man's  work,  and  save  money. 

There  was  a  huckleberry  swamp  in  the  township  of 
Bloomfield  about  five  miles  east  of  where  we  lived  on 
Grand  River,  where  I  went  two  or  three  times  during 
each  summer  with  my  mother  and  some  of  the  neighbors 
and  their  children  to  gather  huckleberries.  We  loaded 
a  wagon  each  time  with  the  berries,  which  were 
very  abundant,  so  had  to  walk  home.  On  one  of 
these  occasions  the  larger  boys  who  were  with  us  per 
suaded  my  mother  to  allow  me  to  remain  with  them  and 
attend  a  political  meeting  which  was  to  be  held  at 
Bloomfield  Center  in  the  evening. 

Several  of  the  local  candidates  reveled  in  oratory,  and 
Joshua  Giddings  was  there  and  made  a  speech  against 
the  Democratic  party.  Giddings's  speech  inspired  me 
with  ambition  to  be  a  great  man  and  to  talk  as 
he  did.  I  never  have  forgotten  the  impressions  I 
received  at  that  meeting. 

About  that  time  I  was  taught  a  very  valuable  lesson 
by  a  man  named  Deacon  Laird,  a  ranting  member  of 
the  Methodist  church,  who  was  a  neighbor  of  ours.  My 
mother  and  Deacon  Laird  belonged  to  the  same  church 
and  the  families  were  quite  friendly. 

Early  in  June,  when  corn  became  large  enough  to 
hoe,  my  father  was  called  away  to  Cleveland,  which 
was  then  a  small  village.  Before  he  left  he  plowed  a 
patch  of  corn  and  told  me  to  hoe  it  while  he  was  gone. 
As  he  expected  to  be  away  three  or  four  days  I  had 
ample  time  to  perform  the  task  he  left  me.  When  I 
was  on  my  way  to  the  cornfield,  the  morning  after  my 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  27 

father  left,  Deacon  Laird's  son  John,  about  two  years 
older  than  I,  told  me  that  his  father  wanted  to  hire  me 
a  day  or  two  to  help  him  hoe  their  corn.  I  told  him  I 
could  do  the  work  my  father  left  me  in  about  a  day 
or  a  day  and  a  half,  and  if  he  would  hire  me  for  two 
days  I  would  take  the  chances  of  getting  my  work  done 
before  my  father  came  back.  He  took  me  to  his  father, 
who  was  just  going  into  the  field  with  his  old  mare  to 
plow.  It  was  then  about  half  past  seven.  Deacon 
Laird  said  he  would  hire  me  for  two  days  and  pay  me 
twenty-five  cents  a  day  if  I  would  work  well.  I  thought 
it  a  good  opportunity,  because  I  had  only  twenty  cents 
left  of  my  coon  money.  We  did  not  get  fairly  to  work 
until  about  eight  o'clock,  but  worked  on  until  nearly 
dark. 

The  next  day  I  was  on  hand  at  half  past  six  in  the 
morning  and  went  to  work  immediately.  We  took  a 
short  recess  in  the  middle  of  the  day  for  dinner,  and 
John  and  I  worked  like  beavers  to  keep  up  with  the 
deacon  plowing  the  corn. 

A  little  after  four  o'clock  word  came  to  the  field  that 
the  mother  of  the  hired  girl  was  very  ill  and  that  the 
girl  must  go  home  immediately;  so  the  deacon  let  her 
take  the  old  mare  to  ride,  and  stopped  work,  while 
John  and  I  finished  the  hoeing  in  about  half  an  hour. 
I  then  went  with  John  to  the  yard  gate  and  told  him 
to  go  to  his  father  and  get  the  money  to  pay  me.  I 
supposed  I  was  entitled  to  fifty  cents  for  the  two  days' 
work.  John  came  out  in  a  few  minutes  and  handed  me 
a  ten-cent  piece  so  badly  worn  that  I  could  not  tell  what 
its  nationality  was ;  but  John  said  his  father  told  him  it 
was  a  York  shilling,  which  was  twelve  and  a  half  cents. 
I  was  very  much  in  doubt  about  the  money,  and  went 
a  mile  and  a  half  to  Mesopotamia  Center  to  see  Mr. 
Winter,  a  storekeeper,  to  ask  him  about  it.  He  told 
me  it  was  a  very  badly  worn  ten-cent  piece  and  that  I 
had  better  get  rid  of  it  as  soon  as  I  could. 


28  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

The  next  morning  I  went  to  Deacon  Laird  to  collect 
the  balance  of  the  money  which  was  due  me. 

"You  have  worked  only  one  day,"  he  said,  "only  half 
a  day  each  day  you  were  here.  I  have  paid  you  a 
shilling." 

"No,  it  was  only  a  ten-cent  piece,"  I  replied. 

"I  am  never  mistaken  in  money,"  he  insisted. 

I  told  him  Mr.  Winter  said  it  was  only  a  ten-cent 
piece. 

"I  have  paid  you  twelve  and  a  half  cents,  and  I  owe 
you  twelve  and  a  half  cents  more,  which  I  will  pay  you 
some  time  when  I  have  the  money,"  he  retorted. 

"You  say  you  will  pay  me  only  twelve  and  a  half 
cents  more,  and  you  say  that  was  a  shilling  you  gave 
me,"  I  answered,  backing  off  a  little,  looking  at  him  all 
the  time  and  picking  up  some  stones.  When  I  said  the 
last  word  I  let  drive  at  him  and  cursed  him  for  every 
thing  I  could  think  of.  He  came  after  me,  but  I  got 
over  the  fence  quicker  than  he  could  and  got  out  of 
his  way,  and  went  to  my  father's  cornfield  and  finished 
the  work  he  left  me  to  do. 

I  was  greatly  troubled  for  fear  Deacon  Laird  would 
misrepresent  the  affair  to  my  mother.  I  finally  con 
cluded  I  would  make  a  clean  breast  of  it  and  tell  her  all 
about  it.  She  did  not  know  that  I  had  worked  for 
Deacon  Laird  at  all,  and  was  very  much  affected  by  my 
story.  She  never  chastised  me  when  she  was  angry,  but 
would  always  put  it  off  and  do  it  very  deliberately  later 
on.  When  I  told  her  how  I  had  cursed  the  Deacon  she 
shed  tears  and  said: 

"My  son,  I  am  deeply  hurt,  and  very  sorry  that  you 
have  used  profane  language.  You  don't  know  how  it 
pains  me." 

I  expected  she  would  call  me  up  the  next  day  and 
punish  me,  but  she  never  said  a  word  about  it.  I  noticed 
a  coolness  between  her  and  Deacon  Laird  afterward, 
but  she  never  mentioned  the  subject  to  me  again. 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart  29 

This  little  experience  with  Deacon  Laird  has  been 
of  great  value  to  me  through  life.  It  has  made  me 
suspicious  of  people  who  are  too  loud  in  their  profession 
of  religion.  I  have  always  been  afraid  that  they  were 
using  the  garb  of  sanctity  to  cloak  their  rascality,  and. 
to  my  advantage,  I  have  refrained  from  trusting  them. 

My  coon  hunting  during  the  following  year  was 
not  as  profitable  as  the  year  before,  my  share  amounting 
to  only  about  $2.50,  of  which  I  spent  $2  for  shoes  for 
myself  and  my  brothers  and  sisters.  I  was  not  able 
to  procure  many  new  shoes,  but  the  cobbler  mended 
up  the  old  ones  and  made  us  very  comfortable  that 
winter. 

About  a  week  before  General  Training  the  following 
spring,  I  was  at  Mr.  Winter's  store  at  Mesopotamia 
Center,  and  he  invited  me  to  take  twelve  o'clock  dinner 
with  him  on  General  Training  day.  I  gladly  accepted 
the  invitation,  which  relieved  me  from  the  expense  of 
buying  gingerbread  and  root  beer. 

The  only  recreation  I  had  that  summer  from  work 
on  the  farm  was  fishing  and  swimming  in  Grand  River. 
The  lock  tender  of  the  Erie  Canal  taught  me  to  swim 
about  as  soon  as  I  could  walk;  at  all  events,  I  do  not 
remember  when  I  could  not  swim.  In  the  winter  I 
again  attended  the  district  school  on  Grand  River. 
Among  the  pupils  was  a  black-eyed  little  girl,  Mary 
Easton,  about  my  own  age,  of  whom  I  was  very  fond. 
The  schoolhouse  was  warmed  by  an  old-fashioned  fire 
place  with  a  back-log,  andirons,  and  a  big  pile  of  wood. 
The  boys  usually  made  the  fire  in  the  morning,  and 
one  morning  while  several  of  the  larger  boys  were 
having  difficulty  in  putting  the  back-log  in  place,  in 
the  presence  of  the  other  scholars,  among  whom  was 
the  black-eyed  little  girl,  I  seized  the  opportunity  to 
show  off. 

I  picked  up  one  end  of  the  back-log,  the  other  slipped, 
and  the  log  dropped  on  my  toe,  smashing  it  so  it  was 


30  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

marked  for  life.  I  did  not  tell  anybody  I  was  hurt, 
but  worked  away  at  the  log  until  I  got  it  in  place.  I 
then  went  home  with  my  shoe  almost  full  of  blood;  but 
after  the  toe  was  dressed  I  returned  to  school  for  the 
remainder  of  the  day  without  letting  the  scholars  know 
I  had  been  hurt. 

The  following  spring  I  met  with  a  great  calamity. 
Rover  died.  I  have  always  thought  some  boys  whom  I 
would  not  take  "cooning"  with  me  poisoned  him  out  of 
revenge.  I  buried  him  by  the  side  of  a  big  rock,  and 
on  a  recent  visit  to  my  old  home  I  found  the  rock  and 
was  able  to  identify  the  burial-place  of  my  faithful 
dog. 

The  next  summer  and  fall  were  spent  working  on 
my  father's  farm  as  usual,  and  in  the  winter  I  again 
attended  the  district  school.  I  had  then  grown  to  be 
almost  the  size  of  a  man,  being  in  my  fourteenth  year. 
In  the  spring  there  was  not  much  to  do  on  the  farm, 
as  the  corn  planting  did  not  take  place  until  about  the 
middle  of  May. 

A  neighbor  named  Nathan  Brazee  wanted  to  hire 
me  for  a  short  time.  So  one  morning  after  breakfast, 
while  my  father  was  still  in  the  house,  and  mother  was 
attending  to  her  household  affairs,  I  asked  father  if  he 
had  any  objections  to  my  working  for  Mr.  Brazee  until 
time  to  plant  corn.  He  treated  my  request  rather 
lightly,  and  laughingly  remarked: 

"Why,  certainly,  you  can  go  and  stay  as  long  as  you 
have  a  mind,  and  you  need  not  come  back  any  more 
unless  you  wish  to." 

Mother  overheard  the  remark,  and  said  to  him : 

"Augustus,  you  had  better  not  make  a  bargain  with 
William,  for  if  you  do  he  will  keep  it." 

He  laughed  again,  and  said: 

"All  right,  it's  a  bargain.     He  can  keep  it." 

I  thanked  him  for  his  consent,  and  left  the  house  that 
morning,  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Brazee,  and  made 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  31 

a  contract  to  work  for  him  for  six  months  at  eight 
dollars  a  month.  I  did  all  kinds  of  work,  and  fully 
supplied  the  place  of  a  man  until  haying  was  over. 

Mr.  Brazee  then  called  my  attention  to  a  five-acre  lot 
of  timbered  land  which  he  wanted  cleared.  The  mode 
of  clearing  at  that  time  was  felling  the  trees,  trimming 
and  piling  the  brush,  and  cutting  the  bodies  of  the  trees 
into  logging  lengths;  that  is,  such  lengths  as  could  be 
rolled  into  log  heaps  and  burned.  I  asked  him  how  long 
a  time  he  would  allow  me  to  clear  the  five  acres,  and  he 
said,  uThe  balance  of  your  six  months."  I  agreed  to 
that  and  did  the  work  in  a  little  over  six  weeks,  but  my 
right  hand  bears  the  marks  of  that  work  to  this  day. 

My  six  months'  pay  was  due  before  Mr.  Brazee  was 
able  to  meet  his  obligation.  Adjoining  the  five  acres 
I  had  cut  he  had  a  ten-acre  tract  which  formed  an  ell 
to  his  farm.  I  knew  a  man  who  wanted  the  ten  acres, 
and  I  asked  Mr.  Brazee  what  he  would  take  for  the 
land.  He  said  I  might  have  it  for  what  he  owed  me. 
I  closed  the  bargain  at  once,  went  to  the  man  whom  I 
knew  wanted  the  land,  and  sold  it  to  him  for  a  yoke 
of  steers  and  fifty  sheep.  I  soon  found  a  cash  customer 
for  my  steers  and  sheep  and  sold  them  for  sixty  dollars. 

I  took  this  money  and  started  to  the  academy  at  West 
Farmington,  which  was  at  that  time  quite  a  flourishing 
institution  in  the  township  adjoining  Mesopotamia 
Township  on  the  south.  I  rented  a  room  for  a  dollar 
a  month,  bought  a  bed  and  bedding  of  very  primitive 
quality  for  four  dollars,  and  a  second-hand  cook-stove 
for  a  dollar  and  a  quarter.  I  cooked  my  own  food, 
which  did  not  cost  me  more  than  three  dollars  a  month. 

I  was  a  very  poor  scholar  for  my  age.  My 
clothing  was  cheap  but  comfortable.  My  large  size, 
and  the  hard  work  I  had  performed,  gave  me  rather  an 
uncouth  and  awkward  appearance,  and  as  I  went  into 
the  schoolroom  and  took  my  seat  I  observed  a  sup- 


32  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

pressed  titter  among  the  girls,  which  I  realized  I  had 
occasioned. 

Although  I  was  backward  in  everything  else,  I  had  a 
natural  aptitude  for  mathematics.  Adam's  arithmetic 
was  used  in  the  school,  and  before  I  had  been  there  a 
month,  and  although  I  was  sometimes  compelled  to 
refer  to  the  multiplication  table  to  refresh  my  memory, 
I  could  do  all  the  hard  problems  in  the  "back  of  the 
book" ;  and  before  the  term  was  out  I  could  answer  any 
question  or  do  any  problem  in  the  book.  The  girls,  as 
usual,  dreaded  arithmetic,  and  when  the  teacher  would 
call  me  out  for  recitation  and  open  the  book  at  the 
hardest  place  he  could  find,  I  would  answer  all  questions 
and  do  anything  that  was  to  be  done  on  the  blackboard 
without  hesitation.  The  girls  did  not  titter  any  more, 
and  I  was  gratified  to  find  myself  a  decided  favorite 
before  the  term  expired. 

During  my  vacation  I  worked  for  Deacon  Goff,  who 
lived  about  a  mile  south  of  the  academy.  Deacon  Goff 
was  a  very  good  man,  charitable,  and  benevolent.  He 
never  used  his  religion  as  an  advertising  medium.  I 
carried  off  brick  in  his  brick  yard  for  three  months  at 
twelve  dollars  a  month. 

In  the  fall  I  went  back  to  the  academy,  and  I  had 
saved  up  enough  money  to  enable  me  to  have  my  eldest 
sister  attend  school  with  me  for  two  terms.  I  could 
do  this  because  I  paid  my  own  board  and  lodging  by 
working  mornings  and  evenings  for  Mr.  Leonard  Lewis, 
who  had  a  farm  about  a  mile  west  of  the  academy.  I 
milked  cows,  cut  wood,  and  fed  stock. 


CHAPTER  III 

Herding  cattle — First  visit  to  a  great  city — I  win  fame  as  a  harvester 
and  lay  my  rivals  out — Student  and  school  teacher — An  unruly 
pupil  floored — I  enter  Yale — College  pranks. 

The  following  summer,  when  I  was  sixteen  years  old, 
I  hired  out  to  assist  a  drover  by  the  name  of  Loveland, 
whose  business  was  to  buy  cattle  in  the  West  in  the 
winter  and  drive  them  in  the  spring  and  early  summer 
to  Chester  and  other  counties  of  Pennsylvania  near 
Philadelphia.  The  cattle  were  kept  in  pasture  until 
the  early  fall  and  then  made  ready  for  the  eastern 
market.  There  were  no  railroads  of  any  considerable 
extent  in  those  days,  but  there  was  a  magnificent  macad 
amized  road  between  Pittsburg  and  Harrisburg,  the 
capital  of  the  State.  Mr.  Loveland's  drove  that  year 
numbered  about  twelve  hundred  steers.  The  drove 
moved  slowly,  because  we  had  to  find  pasture  for  them 
along  the  way  as  it  would  not  pay  to  buy  feed.  Before 
we  were  over  the  mountains  Mr.  Loveland  acquired  the 
habit  of  giving  all  his  orders  through  me,  and  told  me 
when  I  had  no  special  orders  to  use  my  own  judgment 
in  directing  the  men. 

When  we  arrived  in  Chester  County  he  asked  me  if 
I  could  take  care  of  the  cattle  and  find  them  pasture  for 
six  weeks  or  two  months.  He  said  if  I  could  do  so 
he  would  let  all  the  other  men  go,  and  when  I  needed 
help  I  could  hire  boys  in  the  neighborhood  and  pay 
them,  and  also  keep  accounts  and  pay  the  pasture  bills. 
I  was  glad  to  have  such  an  arrangement,  because  the 
men  who  came  over  with  the  drove  had  become  a  little 
jealous  of  me,  and  I  was  afraid  I  would  have  trouble 
if  he  left  them  with  me. 

I  had  a  most  delightful  time  that  summer.    I  lived  at 

3 


34  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

various  farm-houses,  and  became  acquainted  with  all 
the  girls  and  boys,  who  thought  nothing  of  walking 
eight  or  ten  miles  from  one  farm-house  to  another. 
Cherries  were  ripe,  and  all  sorts  of  berries;  peaches  and 
plums  came  later.  I  did  not  have  to  hire  any  help,  for 
when  I  wanted  to  change  the  cattle  from  one  pasture 
to  another  the  boys  of  the  neighborhood  all  wanted  to 
help  drive  them  and  thought  it  was  great  sport. 

Beyond  question  the  good  old  German  Quaker  women 
of  Pennsylvania  at  that  time  were  endowed  with  as 
much  human  kindness  and  motherly  love  as  any  who 
have  ever  appeared  on  earth,  before  or  since.  They 
gave  me  better  things  to  eat  at  the  farm-houses  where 
I  stopped  than  can  be  found  at  the  most  fashionable 
homes  of  modern  aristocracy.  The  day  we  forded  the 
Susquehanna  River  with  our  drove  of  cattle  was  charac 
terized  by  the  hardest  work  of  the  whole  journey.  We 
had  no  time  to  eat  breakfast  in  the  morning  and  did 
not  get  our  cattle  into  pasture  until  four  o'clock.  I 
then  went  to  a  confectionery  stand  on  a  broad  porch  near 
the  end  of  the  bridge  across  the  river.  There  I  saw 
a  very  tempting-looking  pie,  and  asked  an  old  lady 
keeping  the  stand  the  price  of  a  piece.  The  pie  was 
cut  in  quarters,  the  pieces  were  very  large,  the  price 
was  ten  cents.  I  laid  ten  cents  on  the  counter,  and  as 
she  placed  the  pie  before  me  she  gave  me  a  kindly  look, 
which  seemed  to  me  like  a  benediction,  and  said,  "You 
have  been  working  very  hard  driving  them  cattle  and 
you  want  something  more  substantial  before  you  eat 
that  pie."  She  then  brought  out  a  large  bowl  of  milk 
and  a  loaf  of  home-made  bread  and  a  big  cut  of  home 
made  cheese,  and  said,  "I  advise  you  to  eat  that  first 
and  the  pie  afterward." 

I  never  relished  a  meal  more  in  my  life,  and  the 
pie  was  something  new,  being  made  of  tomato  preserves. 
I  never  have  eaten  anything  in  the  shape  of  a  pie  that 
equaled  it.  While  I  was  eating  the  good  things  she 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  35 

gave  me  she  kindly  talked  to  me  about  the  country,  and 
gave  me  a  good  deal  of  local  information  in  a  very  short 
time. 

When  I  offered  to  pay  her  for  what  she  had  given 
me  in  addition  to  the  pie,  she  said: 

"No,  young  man;  when  I  saw  thee  hungry,  it  more 
than  paid  me  to  give  thee  food." 

In  the  fall  Mr.  Loveland  sold  out  his  drove,  and 
wrote  to  me  to  meet  him  in  about  five  days  at  Harris- 
burg,  where  we  would  settle  our  accounts  and  go  home. 

As  I  had  never  seen  a  large  city,  Pittsburg  then  being 
only  a  small  village,  I  had  a  great  anxiety  to  visit  Phila 
delphia,  which  was  about  thirty  miles  distant.  I  ate  an 
early  breakfast  at  the  farm-house  where  I  was  stopping, 
put  some  crackers  in  my  pocket,  and  started  on  foot  for 
the  big  city.  About  twelve  o'clock  I  stopped  at  a 
wayside  pump  and  dined  on  crackers  and  water.  I 
reached  Philadelphia  some  time  before  sundown. 
Chestnut  Street  to  me  was  a  wonder,  and  I  was  not  too 
tired  to  go  the  whole  length  of  the  business  part  of  it 
before  I  took  lodging  for  the  night. 

There  was  a  receiving-ship  in  the  harbor  where  they 
were  enlisting  and  training  boys  for  the  Navy.  I 
contrived  to  get  aboard,  thinking  perhaps  it  would  be 
a  good  thing  for  me  to  go  to  sea ;  but  when  I  saw  how 
the  officer  of  the  deck  treated  the  enlisted  men,  I  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  I  would  not  trade  my  freedom  for 
one  day  for  all  the  navies  in  the  world.  I  hurried  back 
to  the  city  and  spent  the  day  in  sight-seeing.  It  seemed 
strange,  after  I  became  familiar  with  cities,  how  won 
derful  commonplace  things  appeared  to  me  on  my  first 
visit  to  Philadelphia.  I  walked  back  to  Harrisburg 
and  arrived  there  by  the  time  appointed  by  Mr. 
Loveland.  It  did  not  take  long  to  settle  the  accounts; 
in  fact,  they  were  already  settled  by  the  bank  which  kept 
account  of  my  orders.  We  returned  to  Ohio  together 
in  a  buggy. 


36  Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart 

I  went  back  to  the  Farmington  Academy  during  the 
fall  term,  and  at  the  Christmas  holidays  I  engaged  to 
teach  a  school  for  three  months  at  Hampton,  Lake 
County,  Ohio.  My  school  closed  before  the  close  of 
the  spring  term  at  Farmington,  and  I  went  back  there 
and  reviewed  my  studies  for  a  month. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  high  school  where  students  were 
preparing  for  college  was  established  at  Lyons,  New 
York,  so  I  determined  to  leave  the  academy  and  go 
there. 

After  visiting  my  home  and  making  some  presents 
to  my  mother,  brothers,  and  sisters,  I  had  barely  enough 
left  to  pay  my  passage  on  the  lake  steamer  and  canal 
boat  to  Lyons.  I  walked  to  Ashtabula,  a  distance  of 
about  twenty-five  or  thirty  miles,  and  took  a  steamer 
for  Buffalo.  The  boat  stopped  at  Erie,  Pennsylvania. 

I  arrived  at  Lyons  on  a  canal  boat  about  four  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  with  fifty  cents  in  my  pocket.  It  was 
haying  and  harvesting  time  and  I  apprehended  no 
difficulty  in  getting  immediate  employment.  I  followed 
the  road  going  south'  from  Lyons  about  half  or  three- 
quarters  of  a  mile,  to  a  large  farm-house  with  many 
out-buildings,  and  turned  into  the  gate.  There  was  a 
porch  nearly  all  the  way  around  the  house,  which  was 
built  something  after  the  Pennsylvania  style.  In  the 
shade  of  the  porch  fronting  the  gate  an  old  lady  and 
gentleman  were  sitting  in  quiet  conversation.  I  asked 
the  old  gentleman  if  he  wanted  any  more  help.  He 
said: 

"Yes,  I  want  three  or  four  more  hands,  but  you  look 
too  delicate  for  my  work;  I  don't  think  I  want  you."  I 
turned  to  go  away,  and  his  wife  said  to  him : 

"Mr.  Dunn,  why  don't  you  give  that  young  man  a 
chance?  He  is  large  and  strong;  it  is  his  light  com 
plexion  that  makes  him  look  delicate.  Please  give  him 
a  chance." 

The  old  man  called  out  to  me  in  a  gruff  voice : 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  37 

"Come  back  here,  young  man.     What  can  you  do?" 

"Any  work  you  have  on  the  farm,"  I  replied. 

"Can  you  mow?" 

"Yes." 

"Can  you  cradle?" 

"Yes." 

"Can  you  rake  and  bind?" 

"Yes." 

He  pointed  to  a  field  near  the  barn,  containing  four 
acres  of  timothy  and  clover,  and  told  me  that  the  field 
was  ripe  enough  to  cut  and  that  I  might  try  my  hand 
there. 

He  took  down  a  scythe  that  was  lying  on  a  shed  near 
by  and  told  me  to  turn  the  grindstone  and  he  would 
grind  the  scythe  for  me.  I  told  him  if  I  were  going 
to  mow  I  should  prefer  to  grind  my  own  scythe.  "Can 
you  grind  a  scythe?"  he  said.  I  told  him  I  could.  The 
old  lady  spoke  up  again,  saying: 

"Mr.  Dunn,  you  turn  the  grindstone  and  let  the 
young  man  grind  his  own  scythe,"  and  he  did  so. 

The  next  day  I  commenced  mowing,  but  my  hands 
were  tender,  as  I  had  not  worked  recently,  and  they 
soon  blistered  and  bled.  I  kept  on,  however,  and  before 
night  I  had  cut  two  acres  of  that  heavy  grass,  which  was 
half  the  field.  The  men,  as  they  came  in  from  the 
wheatfield  where  eight  or  ten  of  them  had  been  at  work, 
took  a  look  at  what  I  had  done,  and  spoke  to  Mr.  Dunn 
about  it  as  they  passed  into  the  farm-house.  I  did  not 
hear  what  they  said  or  his  reply,  but  the  old  lady  came 
to  my  relief  again  and  said  loud  enough  for  me  to  hear, 
"I  told  Mr.  Dunn  that  young  man  could  work." 

I  finished  mowing  the  next  day,  and  the  following 
morning  Mr.  Dunn  told  me  I  might  go  into  the  wheat- 
field  and  rake  and  bind,  and  that  if  I  could  keep  up  with 
the  cradle  it  would  be  a  dollar  a  day,  but  if  I  failed 
to  do  that  it  would  be  only  seventy-five  cents.  I  kept 
up  with  the  cradle  four  days  and  the  wheat  harvest  was 


38  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

done.  By  that  time  Mr.  Dunn  and  his  wife  had  become 
my  particular  friends.  They  had  a  daughter,  Sallie, 
about  eighteen  years  old,  and  the  old  gentleman  gave 
me  an  introduction  to  her,  which  was  regarded  at  that 
time  as  a  special  honor. 

There  were  two  large  fields,  one  on  either  side  of  the 
road,  each  containing  about  one  hundred  acres.  Much 
of  that  ground  is  now  occupied  by  the  New  York  Cen 
tral  Railroad.  Mr.  Dunn  said  to  me,  "I  want  you  to 
help  mow  those  fields,  and  as  I  have  observed  that  you 
are  particular  about  your  scythe,  we  will  go  over  to 
the  village  where  you  can  pick  one  out  and  I  will  buy 
it  for  you."  We  carried  out  the  suggestion,  but  the 
scythe  had  to  be  ground  the  next  morning  before  it  was 
fit  for  use.  He  told  me  to  grind  it  and  he  would  turn 
the  grindstone,  and  while  I  was  doing  so,  he  said,  "I 
don't  want  the  men  crowded,  but  I  want  them  to  be  kept 
at  work,  and  I  want  you  to  see  to  it  that  they  don't  fool 
away  their  time." 

This  conversation  was  unfortunately  overheard  by 
some  of  the  men  before  they  went  out.  As  soon  as  my 
scythe  was  ground  I  followed  them,  but  they  all  stopped 
down  at  a  big  gate  opening  into  the  field  on  the  right- 
hand  side  of  the  road,  and  sneeringly  said  to  me,  "Boss, 
you  go  ahead  and  we  will  follow." 

It  was  about  half  a  mile  across  the  field,  and  the 
person  going  ahead  was  required  to  lead  the  way  and 
turn  a  double  swath  back,  which  is  a  great  deal  harder 
work  than  mowing  after  a  swath  has  been  cut. 

Mr.  Dunn  had  a  nephew,  whose  name  also  was  Dunn, 
a  strong,  vigorous  man  about  thirty  years  old,  and  he 
had  been  in  the  habit  of  acting  as  foreman.  He  was 
very  angry  at  my  being  selected  to  lead  the  men.  He 
came  immediately  after  me,  and  eight  other  men 
followed  him.  He  mowed  so  close  to  me  that  it  made 
it  very  hard  work  all  the  way  round  while  I  was  turning 
the  double  swath.  It  was  then  my  turn  to  go  behind 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  39 

all  the  others,  and  Dunn's  to  go  ahead.  I  did  not  care 
much  for  the  others,  but  Dunn's  meanness,  as  I  regarded 
it,  annoyed  me,  and  I  decided  then  and  there  that  he 
or  I  would  have  the  worst  of  it  before  night. 

I  crowded  up  on  the  men  before  me,  and  either 
mowed  around  them  or  made  them  get  out  of  the  way 
and  fall  behind  me  until  I  got  up  to  Dunn,  then  I 
followed  him  without  giving  him  a  breathing-spell. 
When  we  got  around  near  the  gate  where  we  started 
we  were  too  far  ahead  of  the  other  mowers  to  change 
with  them,  so  I  went  ahead  and  he  followed  me,  and 
we  continued  that  process  until  night. 

The  race  attracted  the  attention  of  the  people  at 
the  house,  as  they  could  see  us  from  the  porch.  When 
we  quit  work  that  night  Mr.  Dunn  called  me  aside  and 
said  he  had  no  intention  of  killing  me  when  he  told  me 
to  keep  the  men  at  work,  and  that  it  was  not  necessary 
to  mow  any  more  until  we  had  hauled  in  the  hay  already 
cut.  I  asked  him  if  it  would  not  be  just  as  well  to  let 
his  nephew  and  me  mow  until  the  grass  was  all  cut,  and 
let  the  others  take  it  in. 

"No,"  he  said,  "I  am  afraid  you  will  kill  yourself. 
He  is  older  and  ought  to  be  tougher  than  you." 

I  insisted  on  mowing  with  young  Dunn  the  next  day. 
We  slept  in  a  large  room  in  the  second  story  on  mat 
tresses  which  were  spread  on  the  floor.  Whiskey  was 
used  pretty  freely  on  Mr.  Dunn's  farm,  and  there  was 
always  a  jug  in  the  field  with  the  water  bucket  for 
those  who  chose  to  drink  it.  I  did  not  drink  whiskey 
at  that  time,  but  I  told  Mr.  Dunn  to  put  a  bottle  of  it 
under  my  head  and  I  would  use  it  to  wet  the  blanket 
under  which  I  slept,  which  would  prevent  my  being  sore 
the  next  morning.  When  I  awoke  about  dawn  I  felt  as 
limber  as  usual.  I  watched  the  movements  of  Mr. 
Dunn's  nephew  and  observed  that  he  was  a  little  stiff. 

The  fact  that  the  race  was  going  on  became  known, 
and  Miss  Dunn  invited  several  of  her  friends  to  join 


40  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

her  and  see  the  sport  that  day.  We  mowed  on  as  we 
had  done  the  day  before,  each  working  his  best  until 
four  o'clock,  at  which  time  the  young  lady  and  one  of 
the  serving-women  were  in  the  habit  of  taking  a  lunch 
to  the  field  for  the  men  at  work.  On  this  occasion  six 
or  seven  young  ladies  came  with  Miss  Dunn  when  the 
lunch  was  brought  out.  I  ate  sparingly,  but  my  appetite 
was  fairly  good.  Dunn  ate  a  few  mouthfuls  and  we 
started  back  to  our  mowing.  When  he  had  mowed 
about  a  rod  he  lay  down  on  the  ground  and  vomited, 
and  was  too  sick  to  get  up.  The  girls  told  me  to  quit, 
but  I  told  them  I  would  not,  but  to  send  a  team  and 
take  Dunn  home,  and  I  worked  on  until  quitting  time, 
but  not  over  vigorously.  When  Jiarvesting  was  over 
Mr.  Dunn  brought  out  a  roll  of  bills,  and  handed  them 
to  me,  saying,  "I  think  that  will  pay  you  off." 

On  counting  the  money  I  found  he  had  allowed  me 
a  dollar  and  a  half  a  day  for  the  whole  time. 

When  the  Lyons  Union  School  commenced  its  fall 
term  I  became  a  student  in  that  institution.  The  school 
had  four  grades,  first,  second,  third,  and  fourth.  Pro 
fessor  Brittan  was  the  president,  and  he,  with  an 
assistant,  taught  the  languages.  Professor  Elliott  was 
teacher  of  higher  mathematics.  I  devoted  myself  during 
the  first  term  to  the  languages,  and  reviewed  with 
Professor  Elliott  some  of  the  higher  mathematics  which 
I  had  previously  studied. 

At  the  end  of  the  fall  term,  which  lasted  three 
months,  I  taught  a  district  school  in  the  town  of  Phelps, 
which  was  about  fifteen  miles  south  of  Lyons.  I  had 
a  good  school,  and  made  many  pleasant  acquaintances 
which  I  have  continued  to  the  present  day. 

When  I  returned  to  the  Union  School  at  Lyons  the 
following  spring  term  I  was  offered  and  accepted  the 
place  of  teacher  of  the  third  grade.  Professor  Brittan 
very  kindly  heard  my  lessons  in  the  languages  out  of 
school  hours. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  41 

There  was  a  family  of  Easlicks  living  in  Lyons,  con 
sisting  of  father,  mother,  and  three  or  four  boys.  They 
were  all  bad  boys  at  school.  George  W.,  the  oldest,  was 
about  a  year  older  than  I  and  regarded  as  the  bully  of 
the  town.  He  had  had  trouble  with  my  predecessor, 
William  S.  Hall,  and  the  trustees  expelled  him  from 
the  school.  After  I  was  appointed  his  father  came  to 
me  and  begged  very  earnestly  to  have  his  boy  taken 
back  into  the  school.  Mr.  Hall  and  the  other  teachers 
about  the  institution  advised  me  to  keep  him  out.  I 
saw  the  trustees  and  they  said  I  had  better  not  take  him 
back;  but  I  told  his  father  that  I  would  receive  him  in 
the  school,  and  the  next  day  George  came  swaggering 
in  and  began  to  play  tricks  on  the  smaller  boys.  Several 
of  them  complained  to  me,  and  I  told  George  he  ought 
to  behave  himself  and  let  the  little  boys  alone.  He  said 
nothing,  but  gave  me  an  insolent  grin. 

The  next  day  he  lifted  a  small  boy,  who  was  sitting 
in  front  of  him,  by  his  hair  and  made  the  little  fellow 
cry  out  pitifully.  I  walked  toward  him  in  an  easy 
manner  and  told  him  I  would  have  to  punish  him.  He 
appeared  to  regard  that  as  the  best  joke  he  had  ever 
heard,  and  came  swaggering  toward  me  to  show  me 
that  he  was  ready  for  a  fight.  I  grabbed  and  tripped 
him  and  he  fell  full  length  on  his  face.  I  jumped  on 
his  back,  caught  him  by  the  hair,  jammed  his  nose 
against  the  floor  and  hit  him  as  hard  as  I  could  under 
the  butt  of  the  ear,  which  made  him  senseless  for  a  few 
minutes.  I  waited  for  him  to  recover,  but  kept  my  posi 
tion  for  fear  he  might  revive  and  get  the  better  of  me. 
When  he  was  able  to  speak  he  said,  "Let  us  reason." 

"Reason  be  damned!"  I  replied.  "I  propose  to  kill 
you  if  you  don't  behave  yourself."  He  readily  promised 
to  behave  in  future,  and  he  never  gave  me  another 
moment's  trouble,  although  he  continued  to  attend 
during  the  remainder  of  the  term. 

George  had  a  younger  brother  about  fourteen  years 


42  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

old  who  was  in  the  same  grade  at  the  same  time,  and 
as  he  was  a  pretty  good  fighter  I  did  not  know  but  he 
would  interfere,  but  he  only  looked  on.  The  younger 
brother  became  an  athlete  in  after  years,  and  made  quite 
a  fortune  by  performing  in  Barnum's  shows  and  other 
public  places. 

At  the  end  of  the  term  Professor  Elliott  resigned, 
and  I  was  appointed  temporarily  to  take  his  place  at  a 
better  salary  than  I  was  receiving  as  teacher  of  the  third 
grade. 

Some  of  the  scholars  were  well  advanced  in  mathe 
matics.  Perkins's  Algebra  was  the  work  in  use  on  that 
subject.  Mr.  Perkins  was  a  great  scholar  who  resided 
at  Albany,  N.  Y.  We  got  along  very  nicely.  The 
scholars  all  took  deep  interest,  and  I  was  able  to  explain 
everything  until  we  came  to  a  proposition  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  book  which  involved  the  principle  of  dividing 
nothing  by  nothing. 

Dividing  nothing  by  nothing  produces  an  inde 
terminate  quantity.  You  can  make  the  strictly 
mathematical  formula  2  equal  4  or  any  other  absurd 
and  unexpected  results  follow  from  combinations 
involving  that  principle.  I  discovered  that  the  author 
was  wrong,  and  so  informed  the  class.  The  executive 
committee  of  the  trustees  were  also  informed,  and  they 
took  it  for  granted  that  it  was  my  fault;  that  I  did  not 
understand  the  question.  They  called  a  meeting  of  the 
executive  board  and  notified  me  to  be  present  the  follow 
ing  Saturday  evening. 

I  wrote  immediately  to  Professor  Perkins,  pointing 
out  his  error.  I  was  confident  he  would  correct  it, 
because  he  was  a  good  mathematician  and  had  not 
observed  the  combination  which  his  demonstration 
involved.  The  board  was  very  suspicious.  I  told  them 
that  I  was  right  and  undertook  to  explain  it  to  them. 
Of  course  they  were  not  sufficiently  versed  in  mathe 
matics  to  understand  the  explanation.  The  youngest 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  43 

member  of  the  board,  James  C.  Smith,  afterward  Judge 
Smith,  asked  me  how  much  time  I  wanted  to  communi 
cate  with  Professor  Perkins.  I  told  him  I  had  already 
written  Professor  Perkins  and  that  I  thought  I  would 
get  a  letter  within  a  week  or  ten  days.  He  asked  me  if  a 
month  would  be  satisfactory.  "Entirely,"  I  replied, 
adding  that  I  would  go  on  with  the  class  and  take  up 
other  branches  which  they  desired  to  pursue. 

Until  I  heard  from  Professor  Perkins  I  felt  that  I 
was  under  a  cloud;  but  I  waited  patiently,  expecting  to 
be  relieved.  In  about  two  weeks  I  received  a  letter 
from  the  Professor,  containing  about  four  pages  of  a 
new  edition  of  the  book  that  he  was  about  to  issue, 
which  corrected  his  mistake  and  acknowledged  that  I 
was  right.  I  visited  the  president  of  the  board  and 
asked  him  to  call  a  meeting,  saying  that  I  was  ready  to 
report.  They  called  a  meeting.  I  laid  the  matter 
before  them  and  they  seemed  delighted.  My  reputation 
rose  from  below  zero  far  above  my  deserts  as  a  mathe 
matician.  The  whole  school,  in  fact  the  whole 
community,  thought  I  knew  everything  about  mathe 
matics. 

I  continued  to  teach  until  the  fall  of  1848,  when  I 
thought  I  was  prepared  to  enter  Yale.  I  had  been  able 
to  save  but  little  money,  but  Mr.  James  C.  Smith,  who 
had  taken  my  part  as  one  of  the  executive  committee, 
loaned  me  some  money  which  made  it  possible  for  me 
to  enter  the  college.  He  added  to  it  from  time  to  time 
while  I  was  at  Yale  until  it  reached  nearly  two  hundred 
dollars.  Nothing  has  given  me  more  pleasure  than  the 
privilege  later  of  paying  it  back  with  more  interest  than 
he  was  willing  to  take. 

When  I  was  examined  for  admission  to  Yale  the 
same  proficiency  in  mathematics  which  had  done  me  so 
much  service  at  Lyons  helped  me.  Professor  Olm- 
stead,  who  was  professor  of  chemistry,  was  exam 
ining  the  class  for  admission  in  arithmetic.  Professor 


44  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Stanley,  who  was  professor  of  mathematics,  was 
also  present  assisting  in  the  examination.  There 
were  several  other  professors  examining  in  the  lan 
guages,  for  they  were  very  strict  in  those  days. 
Professor  Olmstead  gave  me  a  slate  and  pencil.  He 
wrote  two  ciphers,  one  above  the  other,  and  asked  me 
to  divide  one  cipher  by  the  other. 

I  deliberately  went  to  work  and  used  every  formula 
at  my  command,  showing  that  the  result  was  an  inde 
terminate  quantity.  I  not  only  used  the  algebraic  formula 
by  which  you  could  prove  2  to  equal  4  and  the  like, 
but  I  understood  how  to  use  a  similar  formula  involving 
the  same  principle  in  differential  calculus.  I  filled  the 
slate  with  a  great  variety  of  solutions,  all  showing  that 
nothing  divided  by  nothing  was  an  indeterminate 
quantity. 

When  Professor  Olmstead  came  to  me  I  handed  him 
my  slate  and  told  him  that  nothing  divided  by  nothing 
resulted  in  an  indeterminate  quantity,  as  I  had  proved 
in  various  ways.  "Why,  nothing  divided  by  nothing, 
isn't  that  once?"  he  said.  "No,"  I  replied. 

He  took  the  slate  and  went  to  Professor  Stanley, 
and  the  latter  asked  which  student  had  done  the 
problem.  Professor  Olmstead  pointed  to  me.  "Ask 
him  no  more  questions;  admit  him,"  said  Professor 
Stanley.  So  the  examination  in  the  languages  was 
merely  formal,  and  I  went  through  easily,  which  was 
a  great  relief  to  me. 

I  passed  the  first  year  in  Yale  without  making  a 
mistake  in  mathematics,  although  I  do  not  believe  I 
spent  two  hours  during  the  year  studying  my  lessons. 
I  did  that  at  Farmington  and  Lyons,  where  I  examined 
all  the  geometries,  algebras,  books  on  trigonometry, 
surveying,  plain  and  differential  calculus  and  conic 
sections  that  I  could  find — a  much  more  thorough  course 
than  was  pursued  in  any  of  the  colleges.  I  was  so  much 
absorbed  in  mathematics  at  times  that  I  often  worked 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  45 

all  night,  and  when  called  for  breakfast  was  unconscious 
that  I  had  been  engaged  any  considerable  length  of 
time. 

The  languages  gave  me  more  labor  at  Yale,  but 
mathematics  came  very  near  being  the  ruin  of  me. 
There  were  problems  for  which  additional  marks  were 
given  out  by  Tutor  Grant,  our  division  tutor.  He  gave 
them  out  and  I  would  do  them  for  the  boys  who  were 
dull  in  mathematics.  He  was  very  suspicious  of  me,  and 
tried  very  hard  to  get  even  by  finding  questions  that  I 
could  not  answer.  He  thought  he  had  me  one  day.  In 
Playfair's  Euclid,  which  was  used  at  the  college,  there 
is  a  demonstration,  and  then  a  note  below  at  the  bottom 
of  the  page  in  fine  print,  stating  that  the  q  point  can 
be  demonstrated  in  a  similar  way  without  giving  the 
demonstration.  Most  of  the  young  men  failed  on  the 
q  point.  It  was  in  the  lesson  given  out,  but  it  had  not 
attracted  my  attention  and  I  had  not  looked  at  it,  and 
was  uncertain  whether  I  could  demonstrate  it  or  not. 

As  I  was  going  into  the  class-room  I  told  Tutor  Grant 
that  I  had  not  looked  at  the  q  point  and  I  would  rather 
not  be  called  on  for  it  if  he  would  excuse  me;  that  I 
had  not  asked  any  favors  before  and  I  did  not  want  to 
miss  answering  any  questions  put  to  me. 

He  simply  gave  me  a  sardonic  grin,  as  tantalizing  as 
he  could  make  it.  He  pulled  out  papers  by  lot  and 
called  the  class  up  to  demonstrate  on  the  blackboard, 
so  that  nobody  knew,  and  he  did  not  know,  what  prob 
lem  any  student  would  get. 

When  he  came  to  the  q  point  he  drew  five  different 
papers  until  he  came  to  my  name.  He  then  called  out, 
"Stewart!"  I  had  told  the  class  that  I  had  not  examined 
it. 

I  went  to  the  blackboard,  asked  the  tutor  to  read  the 
proposition  over  again,  and  he  read  it  in  a  vindictive, 
harsh  and  loud,  but  clear  voice.  When  he  finished  I 
had  thought  it  all  out.  When  I  had  written  it  he 


46  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

said,  "Sufficient,"  in  a  snappish  tone,  and  the  class  all 
cheered  me,  which  was  a  great  indecorum  and  came  very 
near  breaking  up  the  meeting. 

My  anger  was  aroused  by  his  treatment.  The  stu 
dents  published  a  paper  called  The  Tomahawk.  We 
could  not  publish  it  at  the  college.  It  was  a  secret 
society  paper  and  was  printed  in  a  cellar  in  New  York, 
and  we  distributed  it  from  there.  It  poked  fun  and 
ridicule  at  everybody.  We  had  observed  when  we  went 
to  Tutor  Grant's  room,  where  we  had  to  go  to  ask 
favors  of  any  kind  or  to  be  excused,  that  he  was  receiv 
ing  letters  from  two  different  ladies,  and  that  he  put 
them  in  separate  pigeonholes.  We  concluded  that  he 
must  have  some  love  secrets. 

There  was  a  little  fellow,  Talcott,  who  was  a  good 
scholar  in  the  languages  and  quite  a  poet,  being  able  to 
write  doggerel  with  great  facility.  He  and  I  obtained 
excuses  from  attending  chapel  on  the  same  Sunday.  It 
was  summer-time  and  the  windows  in  the  professors' 
dormitory  were  open.  Tutor  Grant  was  a  bachelor. 

I  secured  a  painter's  ladder  and  Talcott  climbed  into 
Tutor  Grant's  room,  took  some  letters  from  the  two 
pigeonholes,  and  worked  them  into  verses.  It  seems 
the  two  girls  were  jealous  of  each  other;  and  Talcott, 
in  the  doggerel,  made  them  reply  to  what  Grant  wrote, 
he  pretending  to  each  that  she  was  the  only  one. 

We  had  that  printed  in  the  paper,  and  Talcott  stuck 
four  or  five  copies  in  Tutor  Grant's  hat,  and  when  he 
was  at  dinner  scattered  them  around  the  whole  college. 
We  had  to  do  it  clandestinely,  but  it  raised  an  uproar. 
Grant  wanted  the  faculty  to  get  together  and  punish 
the  guilty  parties.  I  was  frightened  then. 

One  of  the  students  had  a  room  just  under  the  room 
where  the  faculty  met.  We  got  a  bit  and  bored  a  hole 
into  the  floor,  and  stuck  a  tube  into  it  and  brought  it 
down  into  the  room  beneath,  so  that  we  could  hea'r  what 
the  faculty  said.  They  ran  him  a  good  deal  about  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  47 

joke  the  boys  had  on  him,  but  he  was  fearfully  mad 
and  wanted  them  to  trace  it  out  and  expel  the  guilty 
parties.  He  said  he  knew  I  was  at  the  bottom  of  it,  and 
that  nobody  else  could  invent  such  a  trick  as  that.  The 
faculty  wanted  proof,  as  they  would  not  expel  me  on 
hearsay.  They  wound  up  by  resolving  not  to  do  any 
thing  unless  they  had  evidence. 

Professor  Stanley  was  my  friend.  He  sent  for  me 
the  next  night  and  said  to  me,  "You  must  stop  this.  I 
know  he  is  not  a  very  agreeable  man,  and  deserved  it, 
but  you  must  stop  it." 

Another  time  mathematics  came  very  near  ruining  me. 
At  the  end  of  the  second  term  prize  problems  were  given 
out  for  the  freshmen  and  junior  classes  to  solve.  I 
solved  every  one. 

I  had  a  friend  in  the  sophomore  class  whom  I  liked 
very  much,  and  I  gave  him  the  solution  of  a  very  hard 
problem  and  he  secured  a  prize.  Professor  Stanley 
thought  I  had  done  it,  and  sent  for  me  and  asked  me 
to  solve  that  problem  for  him.  I  tried  very  hard  to  find 
a  way  to  do  it  different  from  the  way  I  did  it  for  my 
friend.  He  told  me  I  need  not  go  any  further,  that 
there  was  only  one  way  to  do  it. 

"Now,"  said  he,  "this  is  the  second  time  I  have 
caught  you,  and  if  you  try  to  do  anything  of  the  kind 
again  you  will  be  found  out  and  I  will  not  protect 
you." 


CHAPTER  IV 

Gold  fever — I  determine  to  go  to  California — Storm  off  Hatteras — 
Arrival  in  Panama — A  priest  and  a  cock  fight — Gambling  in  San 
Francisco — In  desperate  straits — 111  with  fever,  I  struggle  to  the 
gold  diggings — Money  in  sick  miners — My  first  claim. 

After  commencement  in  1849  I  went  to  Lyons,  which 
I  regarded  as  my  home,  and  spent  the  vacation  in  such 
work  as  I  could  find.  While  there  glowing  accounts 
were  constantly  received  through  the  newspapers  of  the 
gold  mines  discovered  in  California,  and  many  young 
men  were  leaving  for  the  Pacific. 

Judge  Sherwood  was  anxious  that  I  should  go  to  the 
gold  fields  and  try  my  luck  at  mining.  He  said  he 
would  lend  me  sufficient  money  to  pay  my  transportation 
by  way  of  the  Isthmus,  as  it  was  then  too  late  to  cross 
the  plains  that  season.  I  went  to  New  York  to  obtain 
passage,  but  found  everything  taken  for  about  three 
months  ahead,  and  the  best  I  could  do  was  to  secure 
transportation  on  the  steamer  Philadelphia,  a  shaky  old 
craft  that  was  to  sail  about  Christmas. 

I  went  back  to  Yale  for  the  fall  term,  and  left  at  the 
holiday  vacation,  starting  early  in  January  on  the  voyage 
to  Panama,  and  a  very  rough  voyage  we  had  from  New 
York  to  Cuba,  too. 

A  storm  raged  off  Hatteras  for  about  forty-eight 
hours,  which  came  very  near  destroying  our  ship.  The 
old  hulk  had  been  fitted  up  with  shelves  called  berths, 
and  we  were  packed  in  after  the  fashion  of  so  many 
herrings. 

There  was  not  sufficient  room  for  coal  below  and  it 
was  packed  around  on  the  middle  deck,  leaving  barely 
space  to  walk.  When  the  steamer  commenced  pitching 
in  the  waves,  the  coal,  which  was  in  sacks,  slid  forward 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart  49 

and  endangered  the  safety  of  the  vessel.  The  captain 
called  on  the  passengers,  about  fourteen  hundred  in  num 
ber,  to  help  carry  the  coal  back  to  trim  the  ship.  Only 
three  of  us  were  able  to  engage  in  the  work,  John  James, 
"Doc"  Bronson,  and  myself.  The  rest  of  the  passengers 
were  too  sick  to  stand,  and  devoted  themselves  to  prayer 
and  lamentations. 

The  vessel  had  two  engines  driving  paddle-wheels. 
During  the  night  of  the  first  day  of  the  storm  one  of 
the  engines  broke  and  three  of  the  sailors  lost  their 
lives  in  attempting  to  repair  it.  From  that  time  the 
ship  had  to  be  worked  with  one  engine. 

During  the  early  part  of  the  second  night  the  waves 
were  tremendous,  every  ninth  wave  greater  than  the 
intervening.  Finally  one  of  the  big  waves  swept  over 
the  ship  and  carried  every  mast  by  the  board.  The 
captain  called  upon  his  crew  to  cut  the  ropes  and  let 
the  dangling  spars  go  overboard.  None  of  his  crew 
dared  such  an  undertaking. 

Just  at  that  moment,  William  Dall,  a  young,  compact, 
energetic  sailor  who  was  going  to  the  Pacific  to  act  as 
mate  on  a  steamship,  and  who  afterward  was  captain, 
and  later  superintendent  of  one  of  the  principal  mines 
on  the  Comstock,  volunteered  to  cut  the  ropes.  He 
bound  a  rope  around  his  waist,  sprang  to  the  stump  of 
the  mast  and  tied  himself  to  that,  and  swung  out  in 
the  air,  cut  the  ropes  and  cleared  the  ship  before  the 
next  great  wave  reached  her.  After  that  the  wind 
gradually  subsided,  although  the  waves  still  ran  moun 
tain  high. 

By  twelve  o'clock  that  night  the  coal  which  had  been 
between  the  decks  was  so  far  used  up  as  to  give  no 
further  trouble.  I  asked  the  captain  if  he  had  anything 
more  for  me  to  do,  and  he  said  no,  that  I  had  better 
take  a  rest. 

I  started  down  to  the  cabin,  heard  the  pounding  of 
an  anchor  chain,  and  met  two  sailors  going  to  fasten  it. 


50  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

One  of  them  was  a  very  large  man  and  the  other  a  very 
small  one.  The  little  man  said  to  his  companion,  "I 
wish  it  was  morning."  The  other  replied  in  a  gruff 
tone,  "What  bell  is  it?"  The  little  sailor  told  him  it 
was  the  third.  The  big  one  replied,  "That  is  three 
hours  before  daylight.  It  will  take  you  just  two  hours 
to  get  to  hell  and  you  will  have  a  chance  to  roast  there 
an  hour  before  daylight." 

I  went  down  to  the  cabin,  a  long,  narrow  room 
between  the  bunks  and  shelves  where  we  were  packed, 
and  was  crawling  into  my  berth,  which  was  near  the 
entrance,  when  a  very  corpulent  man,  whose  name  was 
Patterson,  who  had  been  a  justice  of  the  peace  in  Ver 
mont,  caught  hold  of  the  stanchion  at  the  opening  to 
steady  himself  and  said  to  me,  "What  do  you  think 
the  chances  are?"  I  told  him  I  thought  they  were 
about  even,  they  might  be  a  little  against  us.  He  raised 
his  hands  to  pray,  and  as  he  did  so  a  tub  of  butter 
floated  behind  him,  and  as  the  ship  rolled  he  took  a 
seat  in  the  butter.  I  think  I  would  have  laughed  if  the 
ship  had  been  sinking. 

The  next  day  we  got  into  still  water  among  the 
islands  of  the  West  Indies,  and  every  ship  we  passed 
hailed  us  for  a  wreck.  But  the  weather  was  then 
delightful,  and  the  passengers  all  crawled  out  on  deck 
and  looked  happy.  I  have  no  doubt  they  felt  happy, 
for  I  am  certain  I  did. 

About  noon  my  attention  was  called  to  a  number  of 
gentlemen  engaged  in  playing  poker.  My  prayerful 
friend  Patterson  was  one  of  the  party,  and  I  called  the 
attention  of  the  passengers  to  the  marks  on  his  trousers 
occasioned  by  his  attempts  to  pray  the  night  before. 
The  boys  made  life  uncomfortable  for  him  during  the 
rest  of  the  journey. 

We  arrived  about  sundown  at  the  mouth  of  the 
Chagres  River,  where  there  were  several  hundred  boats 
of  all  shapes  and  sizes,  in  which  the  natives  rowed, 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  51 

or  rather  poled,  the  passengers  up  the  river  to  a  place 
called  Gorgona,  from  where  they  either  walked  or  were 
carried  with  the  baggage  on  the  backs  of  natives  and 
mules. 

I  heard  the  officers  of  the  boat  discussing  the  chances 
of  securing  passage  to  San  Francisco.  They  said  there 
were  ten  tickets  reserved  for  the  agents  of  the  Adams 
Express  Company  and  their  friends,  and  that  they  must 
hurry  to  Panama  in  time  to  secure  them.  I  determined 
to  be  there  as  soon  as  they  were. 

The  boat  I  selected  for  the  trip  up  the  river  carried 
three  passengers  besides  myself,  and  was  propelled  by 
four  natives  with  long  poles.  We  encouraged  them  as 
best  we  could,  and  our  boat  landed  immediately  behind 
the  Adams  Express  boat.  I  did  not  take  time  to  engage 
mule  transportation,  but  relied  on  my  own  feet,  kept 
up  with  the  Express  Company,  and  by  insisting  got  one 
of  the  tickets. 

It  was  several  days  before  our  boat  sailed,  and  I 
occupied  the  time  looking  over  Panama  and  the  sur 
roundings,  and  found  many  old  buildings  and  remnants 
of  the  ancient  Spanish  town  when  the  city  was  the 
central  depot  for  the  western  coast  of  America  and  the 
islands  of  the  Philippines  in  Asia. 

I  arrived  Saturday,  and  about  ten  o'clock  Sunday 
morning  a  long  procession  of  men  and  women  passed 
through  the  main  street  to  a  large  stone  cathedral  where 
religious  services  were  held.  The  priest  who  officiated 
was  a  very  devout  and  solemn-looking  person. 

As  I  left  the  cathedral  I  met  some  Americans  who 
had  been  on  the  Isthmus  for  several  weeks  waiting  for 
transportation,  and  they  told  me  there  would  be  another 
performance  of  a  different  kind  in  the  afternoon. 

About  one  o'clock  they  led  the  way  to  a  secluded 
grove  where  the  men  were  coming  from  all  directions 
to  a  central  point,  in  which  there  was  a  round  pit  about 
thirty  feet  across  and  two  feet  deep. 


52  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

To  my  astonishment  I  saw  the  same  priest  who  had 
officiated  at  the  religious  service  in  the  morning, 
approaching  with  two  servants,  each  carrying  a  basket 
filled  with  fighting-cocks.  He  jumped  into  the  ring 
with  a  fighting-cock  to  meet  a  man  from  the  other  side, 
who  also  had  the  same  kind  of  fowl,  and  the  trouble 
began. 

The  priest  stayed  in  the  pit  nearly  all  the  time,  his 
servants  handing  him  a  new  fighting-cock  as  fast  as  his 
fighter  was  killed.  Thirty  or  forty  chickens  were  killed 
in  the  hour  and  a  half  or  two  hours  that  the  sport  lasted. 
At  the  end  of  that  time  the  only  living  chickens  belonged 
to  the  priest,  and  he  had  two  left.  His  servants  put 
one  in  each  basket  with  the  sacks  of  silver  which  their 
master  had  won,  and  the  priest  marched  away  in 
triumph,  the  proudest-looking  man  I  ever  saw. 

When  the  time  arrived  for  the  ship  to  sail  upon  which 
I  had  secured  passage  I  went  aboard  of  the  little 
propeller  Carolina,  and  was  surprised  to  see  so  many 
passengers  crowded  into  so  small  a  vessel.  There  was 
hardly  standing-room,  much  less  sleeping-room.  The 
craft  would  have  been  overcrowded  with  three  hun 
dred;  and  more  than  thirteen  hundred  came  aboard. 

I  had  provided  myself  with  a  quantity  of  tobacco, 
which  I  had  learned  was  a  good  medium  for  making 
friends  with  the  sailors.  I  took  a  fancy  to  the  second 
mate  and  furnished  him  with  tobacco  for  the  trip,  and 
he  returned  my  courtesy  by  swinging  a  hammock  in 
the  rigging  for  me  to  sleep  in,  which  added  greatly  to 
my  comfort. 

The  vessel  went  very  slow,  and  it  required  more  than 
a  month  to  go  from  Panama  to  San  Francisco.  Our 
food  was  very  bad;  corned  beef  and  hard  tack,  with 
coffee,  being  the  only  diet.  After  the  first  two  weeks 
the  water  got  low,  and  then  we  were  put  on  short  allow 
ance.  Before  we  had  been  out  a  week  the  third  mate 
rebelled,  and  a  half  day  was  spent  in  overpowering  him 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  53 

and  putting  him  in  irons.  More  than  half  the 
passengers  sympathized  with  the  mate,  and  if  I  remem 
ber  rightly  some  profane  language  was  used. 

The  next  day  after  the  trouble  with  the  mate,  excite 
ment  was  created  by  one  Micky  Free,  who  was  an 
Irish-American  about  six  feet  three,  and  as  agile  as  a 
cat,  with  the  strength  of  at  least  two  ordinary  men.  He 
was  from  Ohio  and  had  the  reputation  of  being  a  little 
queer.  The  meat  being  unsatisfactory,  he  made  speeches 
with  regard  to  it  which  occasioned  much  amusement. 
He  finally  commenced  auctioning  it  off  to  the  highest 
bidder  in  such  a  ridiculous  manner  that  the  passengers 
became  boisterous  with  laughter,  in  defiance  of  all 
discipline. 

The  captain  wanted  the  sailors  to  arrest  him  and 
put  him  in  irons,  whereupon  he  ran  up  the  ropes  like  a 
wild  animal,  and  when  the  sailors  attempted  to  follow 
him  he  told  them  if  they  had  no  mercy  on  him  to  take 
care  of  themselves,  as  the  first  man  that  touched  him 
would  be  sure  to  fall  down  on  the  deck.  No  one 
touched  him,  because  in  the  first  place  they  could  not 
catch  him,  and  in  the  second  place,  they  dared  not  cap 
ture  him  if  they  could. 

He  stayed  up  there  tantalizing  the  officers  with  his 
witty  remarks  for  about  half  a  day,  and  then  they  told 
him  to  come  down  and  have  a  talk.  He  replied  that 
they  could  not  catch  him  that  way ;  but  he  finally  pointed 
to  me  and  said  to  them : 

"That  light-haired  young  man  down  there  is  my 
agent,  and  any  arrangement  that  you  make  with  him  I 
will  carry  out." 

I  negotiated  with  the  captain,  and  an  agreement  was 
reached  that  he  should  come  down  and  be  unmolested, 
and  that  he  should  not  auction  off  any  more  meat. 

Notwithstanding  all  the  discomforts,  we  had  on  the 
whole  rather  a  jolly  trip,  something  out  of  the  ordinary 
course  of  events  taking  place  every  day. 


54  Reminiscences  cf  William  M.  Stewart 

When  we  reached  San  Francisco  the  harbor  was  full 
of  ships  lying  at  anchor.  The  bay  at  that  time  extended 
up  to  Montgomery  Street,  with  a  peninsula  jutting  down 
to  where  Market  Street  now  is. 

We  landed  in  boats  where  the  Montgomery  Block 
J%     was  afterward  erected.     The  day  I  arrived  I  went  to 
the  corner  of  Market  and  Kearney  Streets,  where  the 
|  principal    gambling-establishment    of    California    was 
;     -^plocated.    It  was  in  a  roughly  constructed  building  about 
1  thirty  feet  wide  by  one  hundred  feet  long.    As  I  entered 
l>  the  door  a  smart-looking  little  chap  met  me  and  pointed 
ilL  to  a  roulette  table  near  by,  and  told  me  if  I  would  say 
nothing  about  it,  he  would  give  me  a  secret.    I  told  him 
I  would  say  nothing,  and  he  told  me  if  I  would  bet  at 
y^hat  roulette  game  and  double  the  bet  every  time  I  would 
£  win  all  the  money  in  the  bank. 

I  took  out  a  quarter  of  a  dollar  and  marked  a  cross 
'  on  it  with  my  knife,  and  bet  it.    There  was  a  gentleman 
betting  who  had  won  several  hundred  dollars,   and  I 
bet  as  he  bet  and  won  every  time.     I  continued  betting 
all  the  money  I  won,  saving  only  a  quarter,  until  I  had 
won   twenty-five   dollars,   when   the   dealer  swept   that 
money  in  and  also  the  pile  the  other  gentleman  had  won. 
4      I  then  proposed  to  the  dealer  that  he  take  the  quarter  I 
<?     had  and  give  me  back  the  quarter  I  had  marked,  because 
the  marked  quarter  was  the  lucky  quarter.    He  supposed 
I  wanted  the  marked  quarter  to  bet  with  again  and  he 
made  the  exchange. 

I  put  it  in  my  pocket  and  bade  him  good-morning.  I 
have  never  bet  a  cent  from  that  time  to  this.  I  went 
through  the  gambling-house.  There  was  an  enormous 
amount  of  money,  something  like  four  or  five  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  on  the  tables,  mostly  in  sacks  of  gold 
dust.  Miners  were  betting  against  gamblers,  male  and 
female,  dressed  in  the  most  gaudy  styles;  and  while  I 
watched  for  perhaps  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  I  saw 
quite  a  number  of  miners  lose  every  dollar  they  had. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  55 

I  worked  a  short  time  on  the  wharf  unloading  vessels 
at  a  dollar  an  hour,  and  I  then  went  up  the  river  to 
Sacramento  on  a  steamboat.  From  there  I  started  up 
the  American  River  with  a  view  of  finding  a  place  to 
mine,  but  the  river  was  too  high  for  mining  on  the  bars. 
So  I  returned  to  Sacramento  and  met  a  gentleman  who 
wanted  some  wild  grass  cut  for  hay.  I  worked  for 
him  a  couple  of  days,  when  I  was  taken  sick  with 
Panama  fever.  A  young  druggist  whose  name  was 
Crane,  whom  I  had  known  in  Lyons,  advised  me  to 
go  to  a  hospital  which  he  had  established  in  Sacramento 
in  connection  with  his  drug  store. 

The  hospital  was  a  sorry-looking  building.  The 
water  under  it  was  about  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet 
deep,  and  it  could  be  reached  only  by  a  platform  of 
boards. 

An  untidy-looking  Mexican  who  spoke  some  English 
had  charge  of  the  establishment,  and  I  inquired  of  him 
how  many  persons  had  died  there.  He  undertook  to 
count  them  up,  but  I  stopped  him  and  told  him  that 
was  enough.  At  the  landing  there  was  a  small  river 
boat,  called  the  Governor  Dana.  I  got  the  Mexican 
to  take  my  luggage  to  the  boat,  where  I  followed  him 
and  lay  down  on  a  bench  on  the  deck. 

My  friend  Crane  came  to  me  with  considerable  agita 
tion,  and  wanted  me  to  go  back  to  the  hospital,  saying 
I  would  not  live  to  get  to  Marysville,  the  destination 
of  the  boat ;  but  I  declined.  His  hospital  couldn't  have 
my  patronage.  It  was  not  good  enough  for  me  to  die 
in.  When  the  boat  landed  at  Marysville  I  could  scarcely 
stagger  up  the  bank,  which  was  very  high  at  that  time ; 
but  since  then  the  river  channel  has  been  filled  up  with 
debris  from  the  mines,  leaving  little  or  no  bank.  I  spent 
the  evening  and  night  under  a  cottonwood  tree  where 
the  boat  hands  placed  my  luggage. 

In  the  morning  two  men  with  a  team  consisting  of 
twelve  oxen  were  loading  supplies  for  a  mining  camp 


56  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

known  as  Deer  Creek,  afterward  Nevada  City,  about 
forty  miles  up  in  the  mountains.  I  asked  them  to  take 
me  on  their  wagon.  They  objected  at  first,  and  said 
I  was  too  sick  to  go,  and  that  it  would  take  several  days 
with  their  ox  team.  I  plead  very  hard,  and  they  finally 
consented  to  take  me.  They  loaded  me  on  their  wagon, 
put  some  loose  hay  under  me  and  made  me  as  comfort 
able  as  they  could.  It  was  a  dreary  ride,  lasting  three 
and  a  half  days.  I  was  racked  with  pain,  and  part  of 
the  time  I  was  delirious. 

When  we  arrived  at  Deer  Creek  the  teamsters  camped 
about  a  quarter  of  a  mile  out  of  town  in  a  grove  of  fine 
timber  near  a  mountain  spring  called  Roger  Williams 
Spring.  They  fixed  me  a  bed  of  leaves  above  the  spring, 
and  split  a  stick  and  put  a  dipper  in  it,  which  enabled 
me  to  reach  the  water  from  my  bed. 

Miners  who  came  up  to  the  spring  frequently  dis 
cussed  my  case,  the  general  conclusion  being  that  I  would 
not  be  able  to  "make  a  live  of  it."  I  drank  enormous 
quantities  of  water  every  day,  and  finally  on  the  morning 
of  the  eighth  day  I  found  myself  in  a  violent  perspira 
tion.  The  fever  was  gone,  and  I  was  well,  but  very 
weak.  Later,  when  I  was  informed  of  the  fate  of  the 
others  who  had  been  taken  with  the  same  fever,  I 
congratulated  myself  that  I  had  no  money  to  employ  a 
doctor  or  buy  medicine,  as  I  was  the  only  one  who 
recovered. 

I  had  just  ten  dollars  left.  I  went  out  immediately 
to  secure  a  pick,  shovel,  and  pan,  with  which  I  was  told 
I  could  dig  and  wash  out  three  or  four  dollars  a  day.  I 
crawled  over  to  the  town,  bought  a  little  food,  and 
located  an  old  pan  for  which  I  paid  a  dollar.  I  did 
not  have  money  enough  to  buy  a  new  pick  or  shovel, 
as  the  shovels  cost  sixteen  dollars  and  the  picks  ten 
dollars.  I  found  an  old  stub  of  a  shovel  pretty  nearly 
worn  out,  which  I  bought  for  seventy-five  cents.  I  was 
told  that  a  doctor  on  a  knoll  a  little  distance  from  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  57 

town  had  a  pick  which  I  might  buy.  I  called  on  him 
and  found  him  sitting  on  a  stump  whittling  a  stick  and 
whistling. 

"You  appear  to  be  very  comfortable,"  I  said. 

"Yes,  I'm  making  about  a  pound  of  gold  a  day  on  an 
average,"  he  replied. 

I  told  him  I  had  heard  he  had  an  old  pick  that  he 
would  sell.  He  looked  around  indifferently,  pointed  to 
an  old  pick  worn  off  on  both  ends  within  three  or  four 
inches  of  the  eye,  and  said  I  might  have  that  for  a 
dollar  and  a  half.  I  bought  it  because  it  was  the  best 
I  could  do. 

While  I  was  standing  there  conversing  with  the  doctor 
I  heard  groans  in  his  tent-house,  which  was  built  up 
about  seven  or  eight  feet  high  of  sticks  and  mud  covered 
with  canvas,  with  a  door  and  no  windows.  I  asked  him 
who  was  in  there,  and  he  continued  to  whistle,  but  finally 
replied,  "Some  patients  of  mine;  they  are  very  sick  and 
I  have  to  keep  the  air  away  from  them."  I  stepped  to 
the  tent,  jerked  open  the  door,  and  looked  in,  and 
there  were  four  or  five  persons  nearly  dead  of  the  fever, 
deprived  of  air  and  water. 

The  sight  was  so  horrible  that  I  left  the  doctor  at 
once  and  went  down  into  the  village  and  told  the  people 
what  I  had  seen.  A  party  of  young  men  started  imme 
diately  for  the  doctor's  camp ;  but  as  he  saw  them 
approaching  he  made  his  escape,  or  they  would  certainly 
have  lynched  him  after  they  ascertained  the  facts.  He 
had  already  buried  four  men  a  few  feet  from  his  tent- 
house. 

His  scheme  undoubtedly  was  to  get  sick  miners  into 
his  power,  rob  them,  and  cause  their  death.  About  five 
years  afterward  I  met  the  doctor  in  San  Francisco,  and 
he  saw  me  quite  as  soon  as  I  saw  him.  He  was  a 
ghastly  looking  wretch,  and  ran  from  the  sidewalk 
between  two  buildings  into  the  dark.  He  was  evidently 
suffering  for  his  crimes. 


58  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

I  worked  around  in  the  ravines  which  had  been 
worked  over,  but  found  some  rich  places  and  was  able 
to  make  from  two  to  six  dollars  a  day  for  about  ten 
days,  when  my  strength  returned  and  I  determined  to 
go  to  mining  in  earnest.  So  I  bought  a  pick  and  shovel 
and  went  up  on  a  hill  called  the  Coyote  Diggings  to  find 
a  claim  that  I  could  locate. 

The  diggings  consisted  of  a  body  of  gravel  extending 
across  a  low  range  of  hills  about  three  or  four  miles, 
and  cut  by  ravines  emptying  into  Deer  Creek.  These 
hills  had  different  names;  the  one  I  selected  was  known 
as  Buckeye  Hill. 

On  the  hill  I  met  a  man  by  the  name  of  Savage  who 
had  been  a  fellow-passenger  from  Panama  on  the  pro 
peller  Carolina.  He  seemed  very  glad  to  see  me,  and 
showed  me  where  he  had  intended  to  locate  a  claim,  but 
said  that  he  had  changed  his  mind  and  was  going  on 
the  other  hill  across  the  ravine  to  locate.  I  then  told 
him  I  would  locate  the  claim  that  he  suggested,  and  he 
remained  there  until  I  had  driven  a  stake  at  each  cor 
ner,  which  was  claimed  by  miners'  rule,  thirty  feet 
square. 

He  then  went  over  on  the  other  hill  and  made  a  loca 
tion  at  the  place  he  had  described.  I  commenced  to  sink 
a  shaft  on  my  claim,  and  I  told  a  young  doctor,  named 
Merrick,  that  he  might  go  in  with  me  if  he  desired,  but 
he  did  not  give  me  an  answer  that  evening. 


CHAPTER  V 

The  lead  struck — I  defend  my  rights — The  first  woman  in  camp — 
"Oh,  Joe !" — Three  thousand  dollars  for  the  timid  female — Brisk 
matrimonial  market — Ten  divorces  in  one  afternoon — Starting 
a  frontier  aristocracy. 

When  I  went  back  to  work  in  the  morning  there  was 
considerable  excitement  on  the  hill.  The  lead  had  been 
struck  near  my  claim,  and  in  line  with  it,  so  it  was  evi 
dent  that  the  claim  was  a  good  one. 

About  eight  o'clock  Mr.  Savage,  who  was  a  large 
man  of  powerful  build,  came  to  where  I  was  at  work, 
and  in  a  rough  and  excited  manner  wanted  to  know  what 
I  was  doing  there.  I  told  him  I  was  sinking  a  shaft 
on  the  claim  I  had  located  the  day  before.  He  told  me 
to  leave  the  ground.  I  said  to  him,  "You  told  me  to 
locate  here,  and  it's  mine."  I  proposed  to  him  to  leave 
it  to  arbitration,  which  was  the  usual  method  of  settling 
claims  at  that  time.  The  plan  of  arbitration  was  for 
each  claimant  to  select  a  party  and  the  two  chosen  to 
select  a  third  to  hear  and  decide  the  case  at  once. 

"You  will  never  arbitrate  with  me;  you  get  out  of 
here,"  he  replied. 

He  grabbed  me  by  my  woolen  shirt,  but  as  he  jerked 
me  up  I  put  my  feet  against  the  side  of  the  shaft,  which 
was  about  two  feet  deep,  and  grabbed  him  around  the 
waist  and  gave  a  tremendous  spring.  His  back  was 
toward  a  small  ravine,  about  fifteen  feet  down,  with 
quartz  boulders  in  the  bottom.  He  went  to  the  bottom 
of  the  ravine  and  I  on  top. 

The  fall  made  him  unconscious  for  a  short  time,  and 
1  wound. his  woolen  shirt  about  his  neck  and  twisted  it 
with  my  hands  so  that  I  could  keep  him  unconscious 
or  let  him  up  at  will.  I  then  loosened  my  hold  and  he 


60  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

came  to  and  attempted  to  fight.  I  choked  him  and  took 
up  a  rock  and  told  him  he  must  tell  the  truth  before 
those  who  were  present  or  I  would  knock  his  brains  out. 
I  then  let  him  have  breath  enough  to  speak,  and  stated 
to  the  by-standers  what  had  occurred.  Some  of  them 
were  present  the  day  before  when  I  made  the  location, 
and  verified  what  I  said.  I  gave  Savage  ample  oppor 
tunity  to  indorse  the  truth  of  my  statement  and  he  did  so 
with  a  hearty  good  will.  I  let  him  go  and  went  back  to 
work.  By  that  time  I  had  plenty  of  friends,  and  Dr. 
Merrick  said  he  would  accept  my  offer  to  go  in  with  me 
and  work  the  claim. 

Merrick  and  myself  sunk  the  shaft  which  I  had  begun 
to  a  depth  of  100  feet,  when  we  struck  a  body  of  gravel 
under  a  strong  formation  of  pipe  clay  about  four  feet 
thick,  which  averaged  in  washing  out  over  fifty  cents 
to  the  pan. 

Charley  Fairfax,  who  would  have  been  Lord  Fair 
fax  if  his  family  had  remained  in  England,  had  a  mule 
and  cart  and  hauled  our  gravel  to  Deer  Creek,  where 
we  washed  it  out  in  a  sluice  box,  called  a  "long  torn." 
Although  he  had  been  hauling  our  gravel  several  weeks, 
<vl  did  not  become  acquainted  with  him  until  one  day 
when  the  men  who  were  hauling  gravel  got  their  carts 
tangled  up.  Charley  was  a  boyish-looking  youth,  and 
they  appeared  to  combine  against  him. 

He  showed  remarkable  spirit,  and  was  willing  to  fight 
the  whole  party.  I  took  a  liking  to  him,  and  he  and  I 
managed  to  get  the  carts  out  of  the  way  and  give  him 
a  chance  at  the  creek.  This  circumstance  led  to  a  friend- 
ship  which  lasted  through  life,  and  was  the  real  cause 
of  an  interesting  transaction  which  will  be  related 
later  on. 

My  partner,  Dr.  Merrick,  was  a  remarkable  char- 
acter.  He  was  a  graduate  of  Harvard  College,  and 
also  of  a  medical  college  in  Boston.  After  he  gradu- 
ated  he  went  to  Chicago  and  entered  upon  the  practice 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart  61 

of  medicine.  There  he  fell  in  love  with  a  beautiful 
woman,  but  her  father  interfered  and  prevented  the 
marriage,  and  he  left  Chicago  and  went  to  California. 

He  was  gifted,  brave,  and  handsome;  but  he  had  a 
habit  of  drinking  too  much  at  times,  and  of  gambling 
on  all  possible  occasions.  There  was  a  gambling-saloon 
in  Nevada  City  which  he  frequented,  and  as  I  became 
very  much  attached  to  him  I  often  went  there  and  took 
him  home. 

One  evening  as  I  was  hunting  for  him  I  heard  angry 
language  in  the  saloon,  and  the  dealer  threatening  to 
shoot  him.  I  knew  that  my  friend  was  in  great  danger, 
as  the  man  who  made  the  threats  had  already  killed 
several  men.  I  rushed  in  at  the  open  door,  and  saw  the 
dealer  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  table  with  a  six- 
shooter  in  his  hand,  and  Merrick  sitting  on  a  stool  on 
the  side  near  me.  I  crawled  on  my  hands  and  knees  as 
rapidly  as  possible  to  where  he  was  sitting,  and  as  the 
dealer  was  about  to  fire  I  caught  the  stool  and  jerked 
it  from  under  my  friend,  letting  him  down  on  the  floor. 
The  pistol  ball  went  harmlessly  over  his  head.  I  then 
took  Merrick  by  the  legs  and  dragged  him  out  of  the 
saloon.  The  by-standers  were  so  thick  that  his  antago 
nist  could  not  get  an  opportunity  to  shoot  him,  and  as  it 
was  dark  on  the  street  I  got  him  away.  The  next  day 
Merrick  and  myself  were  eating  our  mid-day  meal 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  from  the  bushes  under  which  we 
slept,  and  where  we  had  left  our  fire-arms.  The  infuri 
ated  dealer  of  the  night  before  came  upon  us  when  we 
were  both  unarmed,  and  with  drawn  pistol  declared  that 
he  had  come  to  kill  Merrick. 

Merrick  instantly  sprang  to  his  feet,  threw  open  his 
flannel  shirt  and  shouted,  "Shoot,  you  damned  cowardly 
assassin!"  His  antagonist  dropped  his  pistol  by  his 
side,  saying,  "I'll  be  damned  if  I'll  shoot  so  brave  a 
man.  Go  to  Hell!"  And  he  turned  on  his  heel  and 
went  back  to  town. 


62  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

We  obtained  from  the  workings  of  our  claim  that 
summer  about  seven  thousand  dollars  apiece,  and  I 
proposed  to  Merrick  to  buy  up  a  number  of  claims  in 
the  ravine  in  front  of  us  to  work  whenever  water  could 
be  procured  for  that  purpose. 

He  declined  to  do  so,  and  the  next  spring  water  was 
brought  down  and  more  than  one  million  dollars  was 
taken  out  of  that  ground  which  we  could  have  bought 
for  about  eleven  thousand  dollars. 

Merrick  left  in  the  fall  of  1850  and  took  a  steamer 
bound  for  Panama,  remaining  for  a  short  time  in 
the  beautiful  harbor  of  Acapulco.  He  went  ashore 
to  assist  in  the  burial  of  a  doctor  there  who  had  died 
on  his  way  from  the  East.  He  learned  from  the  papers 
of  the  dead  man  where  he  was  from,  and  sent  home  to 
his  widow  a  full  account  of  what  had  occurred,  and 
a  good  deal  more  money  than  the  effects  of  the  dead 
doctor,  which  he  kept,  were  worth. 

An  American  who  resided  in  Mexico  gave  me  a  very 
interesting  account  of  Dr.  Merrick's  career  after  he 
secured  the  medical  outfit,  and  it  was  in  harmony  with 
his  character. 

He  took  the  diploma  of  the  doctor,  adopted  his 
name,  and  commenced  the  practice  of  medicine  in 
Mexico.  He  had  no  difficulty  in  making  himself 
acquainted,  for  he  spoke  the  Spanish  language  as 
fluently  as  the  natives.  He  married  a  rich  girl  and 
gambled  away  her  money.  Later  he  rose  to  be  the  chief 
surgeon  of  the  Mexican  Army,  and  was  so  skilful  in  his 
profession  that  the  people  thought  he  had  some  miracu 
lous  power. 

Dr.  Merrick  was  taken  violently  ill  and  was  con 
scious  that  he  would  not  recover,  so  he  made  a  will 
which  was  believed  to  contain  his  medicinal  secrets, 
sealed  it  in  an  envelope,  and  ordered  the  envelope  to 
be  sold  at  auction  to  the  highest  bidder  and  the  money 
obtained  given  to  his  widow.  After  his  death  this  was 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  63 

done  and  twenty  thousand  dollars  was  realized  at  the 
auction.  When  the  envelope  was  opened  and  the  will 
read,  it  was  as  follows:  "If  you  want  to  preserve  good 
health,  keep  your  head  cool  and  your  feet  warm." 

Many  interesting  events  occurred  that  summer  while 
Merrick  and  I  were  working  our  claims,  one  of  which 
afforded  us  much  amusement. 

I  awoke  one  morning  and  saw  a  covered  wagon,  with 
two  oxen  which  had  been  unyoked  and  were  grazing 
on  a  grass  plot  near  a  spring  in  the  ravine  below  me. 
I  soon  discovered  that  a  line  had  been  drawn  from  the 
wagon  to  a  clump  of  rocks,  upon  which  were  hung 
several  articles  of  feminine  attire  to  dry. 

Women  were  so  scarce  in  California  at  that  time 
that  this  was  sufficient  to  arouse  the  whole  camp.  The 
"boys,"  as  we  were  called,  were  scattered  along  the 
Coyote  diggings  for  a  distance  of  about  four  miles, 
and  when  anything  unusual  happened  the  words  "Oh 
Joe!"  would  be  passed  along  the  whole  line. 

When  I  saw  the  feminine  raiment  I  raised  the  usual 
alarm,  "Oh  Joe!"  and  this  called  the  attention  of  the 
miners  on  Buckeye  Hill,  where  I  was,  to  the  clothes 
line  which  had  attracted  my  notice.  They  gathered 
around  on  the  hill,  nearly  surrounding  the  covered 
wagon  and  its  contents. 

The  rush  of  the  boys  in  the  immediate  vicinity  to  see 
the  wonderful  sight  attracted  those  farther  away,  and 
in  less  than  ten  minutes  two  or  three  thousand  young 
men  were  anxiously  watching  the  wagon,  clothes-line, 
and  fascinating  lingerie. 

In  alarm  the  man  that  belonged  to  the  woman  inside 
stuck  his  head  out  of  a  small  tent  beside  the  wagon. 
I  assured  him  that  no  harm  was  intended,  but  that  we 
were  very  anxious  to  see  the  lady  who  was  the  owner 
of  the  clothes. 

This  aroused  her  curiosity  sufficiently  to  induce  her 


64  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

to  pull  the  curtain  of  the  tent  aside  so  that  her  faea 
could  be  discovered,  but  not  fully  seen. 

I  then  proposed  that  we  make  a  donation  to  the 
first  lady  that  had  honored  our  camp  with  a  visit.  I 
took  from  my  camp  a  buck-skin  bag,  used  for  the  pur 
pose  of  carrying  gold,  and  invited  the  boys  to  con 
tribute.  They  came  forward  with  great  eagerness,  and 
)/*«f ^  poured  out  of  their  sacks  gold  dust  amounting  to 
hffwgn  H*7Q  ^nd  three  thousand  dollars.  I  then  pro 
posed  to  appoint  a  committee  to  wait  on  the  lady  and 
present  it.  The  motion  was  unanimously  carried,  and 
one  of  the  gentlemen  appointed  on  the  committee  sug- 
myself  as  chairman. 

1  took  the  sack  of  gold  and  went  within  about  thirty 
feet  of  the  tent,  and  made  as  good  a  speech  as  I  could 
to  induce  the  lady  to  come  out,  assuring  her  that  all  the 
men  about  her  were  gentlemen,  that  they  had  seen  no 
ladies  for  so  many  months,  and  that  the  presence  of 
one  reminded  them  of  their  mothers  and  sweethearts 
at  home.  I  told  her  the  bag  of  gold  was  hers  on  con 
dition  that  she  would  come  out  and  claim  it. 

Her  husband  urged  her  to  be  brave,  but  when  she 
finally  ventured  about  half  way,  the  cheers  were  so 
vociferous  that  she  was  scared  and  ran  back. 

She  repeated  this  performance  several  times,  and  I 
kept  moving  slowly  back  far  enough  to  get  her  away 
from  the  little  tent  so  the  boys  could  have  a  good  view 
of  her.  I  suppose  half  an  hour  was  occupied  with  her 
running  back  and  forth  while  the  boys  looked  on  in 
admiration,  when  I  finally  gave  her  the  bag  with  all  the 
good  wishes  of  the  camp.  She  grabbed  it  and  ran  into 
the  tent  like  a  rabbit 

The  next  morning  the  wagon,  oxen,  man,  and  owner 
of  the  inspiring  apparel  were  gone,  and  we  never  heard 
of  them  in  after  life.  It  was  no  doubt  well  that  they 
hastened  their  departure,  for  in  those  days  it  was  a  very 
usual  occurrence  for  the  young  wife  coming  to  that 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  65 

country  to  be  persuaded  to  forsake  her  husband  on  their 
arrival  in  the  new  camp. 

The  immigrants  of  1850  included  thousands  of  newly 
married  young  people  whose  wedding  journey  included 
all  the  hardships  and  privations  of  crossing  the  plains. 
These  hardships  made  the  men  look  rather  rough  and 
scrubby,  and  they  were  all  miserably  poor. 

The  women  were  young,  and  after  they  had  an 
opportunity  to  wash  their  faces,  looked  more  attractive 
— particularly  to  the  miners  who  had  been  deprived  of 
female  society  for  many  months  and  had  accumulated 
some  money. 

Such  young  men  usually  indulged  in  store  clothes 
and  spruced  up.  The  contrast  between  them  and  the 
immigrant  who  had  just  crossed  the  plains  was  very 
marked.  These  young  men  were  very  anxious  for  ladies' 
society,  and  at  once  paid  court  to  the  young  married 
women,  and  in  a  very  large  number  of  cases  they  were 
able  to  persuade  the  ladies  that  they  were  not  fully 
appreciated  at  the  time  of  their  marriage,  and  that  they 
had  made  a  mistake  in  marrying  beneath  them. 

Usually  the  husband,  naturally  enough,  became  jeal 
ous  and  tried  to  prevent  the  sociability  which  sprang 
up  between  his  wife  and  the  spruce  young  miner.  Then 
there  would  be  angry  words  between  the  husband  and 
his  wife's  admirer,  which  frequently  resulted  in  blows, 
and  if  the  husband  got  the  worst  of  it  his  wife  would 
have  no  further  use  for  him.  The  miner  would  pro 
pose  marriage  if  a  divorce  could  be  obtained.  Extreme 
cruelty  was  given  as  the  reason  for  the  separation.  The 
intended  bridegroom  was  always  a  ready  witness  to 
swear  to  a  case  of  "extreme  cruelty." 

In  the  fall  of  1851  I  went  to  Nevada  City  to  buy 
supplies  for  the  men  engaged  in  constructing  the  Grizzly 
Ditch.  I  bought  several  mule-loads,  and  was  having 
them  packed  very  early  one  morning,  but  before  I  could 
get  away  I  was  summoned  as  a  juror  in  Judge  Bar- 
5 


f>6  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

ber's  court.  This  was  before  I  made  myself  exempt 
from  jury  duty  by  becoming  a  member  of  the  bar.  I 
saw  the  Judge,  and  tried  very  hard  to  beg  off;  but  he 
told  me  there  were  ten  divorce  cases  on  hand  and  he 
wanted  to  dispose  of  them  that  day,  and  could  not 
excuse  me.  He  said  he  thought  I  could  get  away  in 
time  to  return  to  my  camp  that  night.  So  I  had  to 
submit,  although  I  did  not  like  it.  I  then  prepared 
the  jury-room  for  use  by  conveying  to  it  a  demijohn  of 
whiskey,  a  bucket  of  water,  and  twelve  tin  dippers. 

The  charge  in  each  case  was  extreme  cruelty,  and  the 
principal  witness  for  each  plaintiff — in  all  cases  the  wife 
—was  her  new  friend  who  was  engaged  to  marry  her 
as  soon  as  she  could  get  the  old  love  off. 

We  heard  the  first  case,  and  retired  to  the  jury-room, 
where  the  jurors  proposed  to  elect  me  foreman.  We 
were  all  young  men  except  one  man  by  the  name  of 
Morgan  who  was  over  eighty  years  old.  He  had  been 
brought  over  the  plains  from  Missouri  by  his  relatives. 
I  told  my  fellow-jurors  that  I  was  willing  to  act  as 
foreman  provided  they  would  agree  to  be  guided  in 
each  case  by  the  judgment  of  Mr.  Morgan,  as  we  were 
all  too  young  to  pass  upon  the  question  of  divorce. 

They  agreed  to  this.  As  foreman  of  the  jury  I 
inquired  of  Mr.  Morgan  what  the  verdict  should  be. 
He  said,  "I  believes  if  they  can't  agrees  to  go  together, 
lets  them  go  apart,"  and  I  wrote  the  verdict  as  follows: 
"We,  the  jury,  find  the  defendant  guilty  of  extreme 
cruelty." 

We  returned  the  verdict  into  court,  heard  the  next 
case,  and  followed  the  same  program  in  the  jury-room, 
continuing  so  to  do  until  we  had  disposed  of  the  ten 
cases.  There  were  ten  weddings  that  afternoon  and 
evening. 

I  then  thought,  and  still  think,  that  we  did  the  best 
thing  that  could  have  been  done.  These  women  had 
separated  from  their  husbands,  and  if  they  had  not 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  67 

been  allowed  to  marry  the  men  who  had  parted  them 
they  would  perhaps  have  done  worse.  Some  of  them 
made  good  citizens  and  raised  families,  and  when  they 
grew  rich  became  very  aristocratic. 


CHAPTER   VI 

Scourge  in  the  Diggings — Prospecting  in  the  Sierra  Nevadas — 
Grizzly  Ditch — Lost  in  a  blizzard — Ham-bone  soup  for  starving 
men — An  arrow  through  my  hat — Indians — We  wipe  out  Chief 
"Big  Jim's"  band — A  ghastly  discovery — Surveying  without 
instruments. 

In  the  fall  of  1850  a  terrible  scourge  visited  the  dig 
gings.  Cholera  raged  in  Sacramento  with  a  few  cases 
in  San  Francisco.  In  the  mountains  it  was  not  cholera, 
but  black  erysipelas,  which  soon  spread  to  all  the  princi 
pal  mining  regions.  Several  men  died  in  the  Coyote 
diggings ;  not  one  was  saved  who  was  stricken  with  the 
disease.  There  was  no  doctor  in  the  town  who  under 
stood  any  kind  of  erysipelas,  although  two  or  three 
druggists  had  established  themselves  there. 

A  young  man  named  Graham,  from  Harvard  Uni 
versity,  was  a  near  neighbor  of  mine  and  we  had  been 
intimate  friends  for  some  time.  Two  or  three  of  our 
immediate  neighbors  died,  and  there  was  nobody  to 
bury  them  but  Graham  and  myself.  We  made  coffins 
of  empty  goods  boxes,  dug  the  graves,  and  buried  the 
bodies. 

The  next  morning  Graham  told  me  he  had  the 
erysipelas.  A  nail  in  one  of  the  goods  boxes  had 
scratched  his  finger,  and  in  handling  the  corpse  he 
had  been  inoculated  with  the  disease.  His  finger  was 
swelling  rapidly. 

He  wrote  several  letters  to  his  family  and  informed 
them  I  would  attend  to  his  affairs.  The  next  morning 
at  sunrise  he  was  dead,  and  I  alone  buried  the  body 
of  my  friend.  He  had  a  bag  of  gold  dust,  and  some 
keep-sakes  which  he  had  brought  from  home,  all  of 
which  I  took  to  the  Adams  Express  office  and  sent  to 
his  relatives  as  directed. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  69 

About  the  first  of  November,  1850,  I  left  Nevada 
City  with  a  mule  to  prospect  for  mines.  I  followed  the 
north  fork  of  the  American  River  to  the  head,  and 
found  nothing  worth  working  because  I  was  above  the 
mineralized  belt  of  country  from  which  gold  was 
obtained.  I  passed  over  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mountains 
and  down  the  eastern  slope  to  Lake  Tahoe,  a  magnifi 
cent  body  of  mountain  water,  at  that  time,  so  far  as 
I  know,  without  a  name.  {*  CP^A^JJb  "•&  {LciJUU*/  f\ 

I  followed  around  the  margin  of  the  lake  wit^n  some 
difficulty  until  I  reached  the  Truckee  River  which  was  j£> 
its  outlet,  then  went  down  the  river  prospecting  for 
gold  without  success  until  I  reached  the  valley  where 
Reno  is  now  located.  I  then  turned  back  and  followed 
Donner's  trail,  which  was  then  known  as  the  Truckee 
route. 

When  I  came  to  where  the  Donner  party  perished  I 
found  the  log  cabins  which  they  had  constructed  a  year 
and  a  half  previous  still  in  a  state  of  remarkable 
preservation,  although  they  had  been  built  on  the  snow 
fifteen  or  twenty  feet  above  the  ground,  as  shown  by 
the  stumps  of  trees  which  they  cut  off.  The  cabins  had 
settled,  as  the  snow  melted,  to  firm  ground.  I  passed 
over  the  Truckee  route  and  went  down  the  ridge 
between  Bear  River  and  South  Yuba.  When  I  got 
within  about  twenty  miles  of  Nevada  City  I  turned 
down  to  a  mining  camp  on  the  river  called  Washing-( 
ton,  which  was  at  the  junction  of  the  South  Yuba  an 
Poor  Man's  Creek.  I  followed  Poor  Man's  Creek  ten 
or  twelve  miles,  and  there  I  met  a  little  bald-headed 
man  by  the  name  of  Allen,  a  nephew  of  Ethan  Allen 
of  Revolutionary  fame. 

I  had  parted  with  my  mule  at  Washington  and  was 
on  foot  when  I  met  Allen,  so  we  went  up  the  creek 
together  to  its  source  and  discovered  placer  diggings 
of  considerable  extent  and  richness  which  I  named 
"Eureka."  I  then  went  to  Nevada  City,  and  selecting  a 


70  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

party  of  three  besides  myself  we  started  out  with  our 
provisions  and  supplies  on  our  backs  for  the  new 
diggings. 

Snow  began  to  fall,  and  before  we  reached  the  mines 
was  about  two  feet  deep,  which  made  the  trip  very 
difficult  and  laborious  as  we  were  loaded  with  about  a 
hundred  pounds  apiece.  I  was  compelled  to  lead  the 
way  and  break  the  trail. 

Finally  reaching  our  destination,  we  constructed  a 
cabin  of  logs  and  went  to  work  in  the  diggings.  It 
was  difficult  to  get  water  to  wash  the  gravel  on  account 
of  the  deep  snow  over  the  little  stream ;  but  we  worked 
on  for  about  two  months  and  a  half,  when  the  snow 
became  very  deep  and  it  was  still  storming.  Our 
matches  were  wet,  and  we  lost  our  fire  and  were  com 
pelled  to  subsist  on  raw  pork  and  raw  flour  with  a  few 
acid  pickles  that  came  very  near  destroying  our  teeth. 

One  of  the  party,  Tinney,  proposed  to  go  with  me  to 
obtain  relief,  the  other  two  remaining  in  camp.  The 
first  afternoon  we  reached  the  ridge  between  Poor 
Man's  Creek  and  Middle  Yuba,  where  we  cut  off  some 
branches  for  a  bed  and  retired  for  the  night.  In  the 
morning  the  new  snow  over  us  was  from  eighteen 
inches  to  two  feet  deep,  and  when  we  arose  we  saw  an 
uncanny  path  circling  around  where  we  slept,  about 
sixty  or  seventy  feet  across. 

We  thought  it  best  to  leave  that  locality  and  started 
down  the  ridge.  We  had  not  gone  fifty  yards  when  we 
saw  a  California  lion,  the  author  of  the  encircling  path, 
in  full  pursuit  of  a  deer.  The  deer  dashed  down  the 
mountain  with  tremendous  jumps;  the  lion  after  it.  The 
race  continued  down  the  mountain  for  a  mile  or  two, 
the  deer  thwarting  the  lion  by  side  jumps  until  they 
passed  out  of  sight,  and  we  did  not  learn  the  result  of 
the  chase.  We  then  proceeded  down  the  ridge  between 
the  south  and  middle  Yubas,  with  the  intention  of  cross 
ing  the  South  Yuba  at  the  Illinois  Bar,  opposite,  and 
about  ten  miles  from  Nevada  City. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  71 

The  trail  from  the  ridge  was  covered  deep  with  snow 
and  we  reached  the  river  just  after  dark,  about  half  a 
mile  below  the  bar.  Tinney  was  so  much  exhausted 
when  we  reached  the  river  that  he  lay  down  and  said 
he  must  have  rest.  I  knew  if  he  were  allowed  to  lie 
there  he  would  inevitably  go  to  sleep,  and  that  that 
would  be  sure  death,  so  I  told  him  I  would  not  leave 
him  in  that  condition,  but  would  kill  him  to  get  him 
out  of  his  misery.  This  roused  him,  and  he  followed 
me  until  we  could  see  the  light  of  the  camp  on  the  bar. 
I  then  left  him  and  went  to  the  camp,  where  I  found 
two  men,  and  they  went  out  and  brought  him  in. 

We  laid  him  down  before  the  fire,  and  rubbed  and 
warmed  him  until  he  recovered.  I  then  told  them  that 
we  were  very  hungry  and  asked  them  if  they  had  any 
thing  to  eat.  They  said  they  were  entirely  out  of  pro 
visions  and  that  two  of  their  party  had  left  early  that 
morning  to  go  to  Nevada  City  to  get  some  supplies. 
I  saw  a  large  ham  bone  lying  in  the  corner  which  had 
been  scraped  pretty  bare.  I  took  a  kettle,  filled  it  with 
water  and  put  it  on  the  fire.  They  wanted  to  know 
what  I  was  going  to  do,  and  I  told  them  I  was  going  to 
make  some  soup. 

While  the  water  was  boiling  I  broke  the  ham  bone 
with  an  ax  and  put  it  into  the  pot  and  let  it  cook 
fifteen  or  twenty  minutes.  All  of  them  were  surprised 
to  find  how  good  the  soup  was.  We  drank  all  of  it  and 
lay  down  before  the  fire  and  slept  well  until  morning. 

Tinney  and  I  started  at  daylight  and  reached  Nevada 
City  about  ten  o'clock.  I  had  lived  on  salt  pork  and 
flour  so  long  that  I  was  in  the  incipient  stages  of 
scurvy,  so  I  went  at  once  to  the  grocery  store  of  Gallop 
&  Bashford,  friends  of  mine  from  Wayne  County, 
N.  Y.  There  was  a  large  basket  of  magnificent  onions 
on  the  end  of  the  counter,  and  I  ate  onion  after  onion, 
to  the  astonishment  of  the  people  who  had  gathered 
around.  When  I  could  eat  no  more  I  crossed  the  street 


72  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

to  Turner's  Hotel  and  asked  for  a  room.  I  imme 
diately  went  to  bed  and  slept  until  the  next  morning, 
and  then  went  back  to  the  grocery  store  and  ate  more 
onions.  I  ate  nothing  but  onions  that  day,  and  the 
next  day  I  was  quite  well  and  had  an  appetite  for 
ordinary  food.  I  never  could  tell  how  good  those 
onions  tasted. 

There  were  no  hogs  in  Nevada  City,  so  I  got  a  man 
to  go  with  me  to  San  Jose.  We  bought  two  hundred 
hogs,  which  we  put  on  the  boat  and  brought  to  Sacra 
mento.  We  hired  some  Mexicans  to  help  us,  and  made 
three  thousand  dollars  selling  the  animals. 

I  then  formed  a  company  to  dig  a  ditch,  known  as 
the  Grizzly  Ditch,  between  the  south  and  middle  Yuba 
to  bring  water  into  the  Cherokee  Corral,  where  there 
were  some  good  diggings,  but  no  water.  I  went  up  to 
Bloody  Run  and  Grizzly  Canyon  on  the  north  side  of 
a  very  high  mountain  to  look  over  the  ditch  route. 

There  was  a  trail  from  the  ridge  to  Kanaka  Creek 
where  there  was  some  rich  mining.  The  trail  crossed 
Bloody  Run  a  short  distance  above  a  cascade.  I  heard 
the  cascade  below  the  trail  and  had  a  desire  to  see  it, 
so  I  undertook  to  ride  through  the  brush  around  a  small 
hill  to  get  a  view  from  below. 

I  was  riding  a  very  good  mule,  bred  from  a  fine 
mare  and  raised  in  Kentucky  for  the  Santa  Fe  trade. 
She  was  one  of  the  best  riding-mules  in  the  world,  and 
had  been  brought  up  to  Sacramento  with  the  idea  that 
she  could  be  sold  for  at  least  ^2,  coo,  but  when  attempt 
was  made  to  sell  her  and  a  Mexican* bit  was  put  in  her 
mouth  and  a  Mexican  saddle  on  her  back,  she  fought 
so  fiercely  that  nothing  could  be  done  with  her. 

The  owner  said  he  would  take  any  bid,  and  I  offered 
him  three  hundred  dollars,  but  on  condition  he  get 
everything  off  her.  He  took  off  the  rig  and  I  gave  him 
the  three  hundred  dollars. 

I  waited  a  little  while,  took  a  plain  American  saddle 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  73 

and  common  bit  and  laid  them  down,  took  some  sugar 
and  gave  it  to  her,  and  then  put  the  saddle  on  her  and 
rode  her  about  the  town.  She  was  marvelous.  I  could 
ride  her  any  distance  in  a  day. 

My  desire  for  a  better  view  of  the  cascade  came 
very  near  proving  disastrous,  for  when  I  got  fairly  in 
the  brush,  six  Indians  came  up  on  the  ridge,  gave  a 
whoop,  and  fired  their  arrows  at  me,  which  made  my 
mule  jump  forward.  I  thought  I  could  get  around  on 
the  other  side  of  the  hill  and  regain  the  trail  before  the 
Indians  could  head  me  off,  but  in  this  I  was  disap 
pointed. 

Another  party  of  Indians  were  in  the  brush  on  the 
other  side  of  the  hill.  They  gave  a  war-whoop  and  my 
mule  turned,  and  I  let  her  go  as  she  pleased  through 
the  brush.  The  Indians  fired  their  arrows  at  me,  one 
of  them  striking  the  top  of  my  hat  and  taking  it  off. 

The  mule  made  good  time  through  the  brush,  and 
ran  right  into  an  Indian  camp,  where  there  were  several 
hundred  Indians,  braves,  squaws,  and  papooses.  The 
mule  ran  so  fast  and  her  appearance  was  so  unexpected 
that  they  did  not  have  time  to  molest  me,  so  I  got 
through  the  camp  and  rode  up  to  the  trail  again. 

My  hat  was  gone,  my  clothes  were  torn,  and  I  was 
rather  a  dilapidated  specimen  of  humanity.  I  rode 
down  the  ridge  about  six  miles  and  finally  came  to  the 
camp  of  Tom  Burns,  an  Irishman,  who  was  establish 
ing  a  wayside  whiskey  shop.  I  told  him  my  story,  but 
found  him  very  suspicious.  He  thought  from  my 
appearance  that  I  must  be  crazy.  I  succeeded  in  con 
vincing  him  that  I  was  sane,  borrowed  his  rifle,  because 
I  did  not  want  to  rely  on  my  pistol  alone,  and  an  old 
black  hat  nearly  destitute  of  rim  and  open  at  the  top. 
On  riding  back  to  the  Indian  camp  I  found  the  body  of 
a  Frenchman  whom  the  Indians  had  murdered  the  day 
before,  and  I  thought  we  had  better  clean  those  red 
skins  out. 


74  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

After  riding  around  on  all  the  prominent  points 
above  the  camp  to  examine  the  situation  and  get  the 
lay  of  the  land  for  future  operations,  I  went  over  to 
Nevada  City  and  collected  twenty  young  men  of  my 
acquaintance.  They  were  well  armed  with  pistols, 
rifles,  and  shotguns,  and  accompanied  me  back  to  the 
camp  of  Tom  Burns,  where  we  spent  the  night.  In  the 
morning  we  rode  up  the  ridge  and  looked  the  ground 
over  again.  It  was  a  little  past  the  full  of  the  moon, 
so  the  after  part  of  the  night  was  almost  as  light  as  day. 

The  following  night  we  rode  up  the  mountain  oppo 
site  the  camp  of  the  Indians,  hitched  our  animals,  and 
crawled  around  the  camp,  remaining  quiet  until  day 
light,  when  I  gave  the  signal  for  operations  by  firing 
a  gun. 

The  Indians  sprang  to  their  feet  at  the  alarm,  but 
we  won  the  battle  before  they  knew  where  the  enemy 
was  located.  Big  Jim,  their  chief,  was  not  injured  and 
we  took  him  prisoner.  He  was  well  known  to  all  of 
our  party,  spoke  English  perfectly  well,  and  was  sup 
posed  to  be  a  good,  friendly  Indian.  He  had  visited 
the  mining  camps,  conversed  with  the  miners,  told  them 
stories  about  the  country,  and  was  a  most  interesting 
person. 

We  made  a  treaty  with  him  that  the  Indians  should 
leave  that  part  of  the  country  and  never  return.  After 
the  treaty  was  concluded  and  we  supposed  the  difficulty 
was  all  over,  we  observed  Big  Jim  with  a  party  of  his 
followers  fortifying  themselves  behind  rocks  and  brush. 
We  moved  on  their  works  before  they  were  perfected, 
but  they  fired  several  shots  and  slightly  wounded  one  of 
our  men.  We  hanged  Big  Jim  for  his  treachery.  The 
Indians  then  left  and  did  not  return. 

One  day  a  short  time  later,  while  I  was  surveying 
the  upper  part  of  Grizzly  Ditch,  near  where  the  trail 
crossed  Bloody  Run,  I  found  eight  skeletons  in  the 
brush,  of  persons  who  had  been  murdered  by  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  75 

Indians  on  the  trail  between  the  summit  of  the  moun 
tains  and  Kanaka  Creek.  I  do  not  know  who  the  vic 
tims  of  this  massacre  were. 

I  had  no  instruments  to  survey  the  ditch  between 
Bloody  Run  and  Grizzly  Canyon,  the  plan  being  to 
turn  Bloody  Run  into  Grizzly  Canyon,  so  I  made  a 
triangle  of  two  strips  of  board,  with  a  cross  piece  about 
two  feet  from  the  ground.  I  drove  a  nail  in  the  cross 
piece,  cut  off  the  ends  in  the  legs  of  the  triangle  so  that 
the  line  of  the  plumb  bob  would  be  opposite  the  nail 
on  the  cross  piece  when  one  leg  of  the  triangle  was  half 
an  inch  higher  than  the  other,  and  with  this  I  surveyed 
the  ditch  around  a  rough  mountain,  a  distance  of  ten 
miles.  The  water  ran  through  it  without  a  break  when 
first  turned  in,  and  when  I  visited  that  locality  a  few 
years  ago  I  found  the  ditch  still  in  use  for  mining 
purposes. 

After  the  water  passed  through  Cherokee  Corral  we 
turned  it  into  Shady  Creek  and  attempted  to  take  the 
same  amount  of  water  out  again  and  convey  it  to 
another  mining  camp.  A  ditch  had  been  taken  out 
below,  and  the  ditch  owners  brought  suit. 

We  contended  that  we  had  a  right  to  use  the  natural 
water  channel  and  take  out  as  much  water  as  we  put  in, 
but  the  court  denied  us  that  right.  Afterward,  in  con 
nection  with  Judge  Sanderson  and  others,  I  brought  the 
question  before  the  Supreme  Court  of  California,  and 
obtained  the  decision  that  a  natural  water  course  could 
be  used;  that  is  to  say,  water  could  be  turned  into  the 
channel,  and  lower  down  the  same  quantity  could  be 
turned  out;  and  such  is  the  law  of  California  to-day. 

We  constructed  a  sawmill  on  Cherokee  Creek  in  con 
nection  with  the  Grizzly  Ditch,  and  it  was  quite 
profitable. 


CHAPTER   VII 

I  begin  the  practice  of  law—  Appointed  District  Attorney--A  fight 
in  the  court-room  —  I  polish  my  legal  knowledge  in  jail  —  The 
heathen  Chinee  —  I  meet  an  obstacle  in  a  murder  case. 

In  the  spring  of  1852,  having  closed  my  business  in 
connection  with  the  Grizzly  Ditch  and  the  sawmill,  I 
entered  the  office  of  J.  R.  McConnell  at  Nevada  City 
to  study  law.  I  had  read  some  law  at  odd  times  in 
the  office  of  Mr.  Sherwood  before  I  left  Lyons,  N.  Y. 

When  Mr.  McConnell  resigned  the  district  attorney- 
ship  in  November  of  that  year,  I  was  admitted  to  the 
bar  and  appointed  to  fill  the  vacancy  on  the  same  day. 
Upon  entering  that  office  I  found  a  large  amount  of 
business  to  attend  to.  The  grand  jury  met  the  follow 
ing  week  and  investigated  many  matters,  finding  some 
eight  or  ten  indictments  for  various  offenses,  including 
murder,  arson,  embezzlement,  etc.  I  managed  to  draw 
the  indictments  and  make  them  all  stand,  but  in  doing 
so  I  followed  very  closely  Chitty's  form  of  pleading. 

When  the  various  criminal  cases  on  the  calendar, 
including  those  recently  indicted,  came  up  for  hearing, 
nearly  all  of  the  members  of  the  bar  were  pitted  against 


The  most  formidable   adversary  I  had  was  James 
U  Churchman,  of  Illinois,  who  had  practiced  at  the  bar 
I  with  Abraham  Lincoln,  General  Baker,  and  others,  in 
the  early  days  of  that  State.     Unfortunately  for  me, 
1  my  predecessor  and  Mr.  Churchman  were  rivals  and 
A  enemies.     Both  were  able,  rather  vindictive,  and  very 
4  ***  sarcastic.     As  I  had  been  in  Mr.  McConnell's  office 
^•and  had  taken   his  place   as   District  Attorney,    Mr. 
JjJChurchman    transferred    his    antagonism    from    Mr. 
<*-/*mcConnell   to   me.      Realizing  this,    I   tried  the   less 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  77 

important  cases  first.  Never  having  practiced  law,  I 
was  unfamiliar  with  the  technicalities,  although  I  was 
able  to  study  the  general  principles  of  every  case. 

Mr.  Churchman  took  advantage  of  this  and  made  it 
very  hard  for  me.  On  several  occasions  he  got  me  in  a 
corner,  and  I  resorted  to  the  only  means  available  to  ex 
tricate  myself.  I  retorted  to  his  sarcasm  in  very  harsh 
language.  In  fact,  I  was  as  insulting  as  I  possibly  could 
be  in  a  court  of  justice,  whereupon  he  became  enraged — 
as  I  desired — and  called  me  a  liar,  which  gave  me  an 
opportunity  to  have  a  personal  encounter  with  him. 

The  court,  in  dealing  with  the  matter,  ordered  my 
imprisonment  until  the  next  day  and  imposed  a  small 
fine,  which  I  paid.  I  went  to  prison,  a  retreat  I  desired 
under  the  circumstances.  The  sheriff,  William  H.  Endi- 
cott,  was  a  friend  of  mine,  ready  to  do  anything  he 
could  to  assist  me. 

The  jail  consisted  of  a  long  log  building  with  a 
number  of  cells,  but  in  the  front,  which  faced  my  office, 
there  were  two  rooms,  the  first  being  the  sheriff's  office 
and  the  second  his  sleeping  apartment.  Instead  of  put 
ting  me  in  a  cell  he  placed  me  in  his  bedroom,  brought 
over  my  books,  and  gave  me  an  opportunity  to  study  the 
questions  which  had  involved  me  in  the  difficulty.  He 
provided  me  with  good  meals  and  made  me  very  com 
fortable  until  the  next  morning,  when  I  went  into 
court  well  prepared  to  meet  my  adversary  and  succeed 
with  my  case. 

It  required  three  performances  of  this  kind  to  make 
me  sufficiently  familiar  with  the  practice  of  law  to  take 
care  of  myself.  Churchman  constantly  grew  more 
cautious  in  giving  me  an  opportunity  to  exhibit  my 
physical  strength  and  thus  enable  me  to  extricate  myself 
from  legal  difficulties. 

During  my  first  term  as  District  Attorney  a  man 
named  John  Hall  was  convicted  of  murder  in  the  first 
degree  for  killing  a  Chinaman.  The  only  witnesses  to 


78  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  crime  were  six  Chinamen,  who  testified  to  his  guilt 
before  the  grand  jury,  and  he  was  indicted  on  their 
testimony.  There  was  at  that  time  great  prejudice 
against  Chinese  testimony.  The  State  imposed  a  foreign 
||  miner's  tax  and  collected  it  from  Chinamen  only.  It 
was  collected  by  roughs  in  a  most  brutal  way,  and  the 
Chinamen,  looking  upon  it  as  robbery,  did  all  they  could 
to  conceal  their  money. 

Chinamen  had  been  allowed,  however,  to  make 
their  statements  in  mining  cases  and  other  litigation.  I 
observed  that  they  all  told  the  same  story.  I  applied 
to  the  board  of  supervisors  for  an  allowance  of  $5,000 
in  that  trial.  I  told  them  I  did  not  know  what  oath 
would  bind  the  Chinese,  and  I  did  not  want  a  man 
convicted  on  false  testimony.  I  wanted  to  get  a 
separate  room  for  each  of  the  witnesses  and  to  have 
them  held,  unable  to  communicate  with  each  other  until 
after  the  trial.  I  also  wanted  to  procure  a  competent 
interpreter.  The  supervisors  made  the  appropriation. 

I  went  to  San  Francisco  and  saw  Rev.  Doctor  Speer, 
a  Chinese  missionary  who  had  spent  some  twenty  years 
in  China.  After  some  persuasion  I  employed  him  to 
go  to  Nevada  City  as  interpreter.  Before  the  trial  I 
tried  very  hard  to  get  him  to  tell  me  what  form  of  oath 
was  binding  upon  a  Chinaman,  but  he  was  quite  reserved 
about  the  matter,  although  a  very  conscientious  man. 
I  told  him  that  I  had  heard  it  stated  that  cutting  off 
a  chicken's  head  or  burning  paper,  or  something  of  that 
kind,  would  "swear"  a  Chinaman.  "Well,"  said  he, 
"burning  paper  is  just  as  good  as  anything." 

At  the  trial  every  Chinaman  told  the  same  story, 
although  the  interpreter  tried  to  vary  it  a  little.  I 
asked  him  if  they  all  told  the  same  story,  and  he  said 
they  did,  which  was  a  mystery  to  me.  I  had  not  the 
slightest  doubt  that  Hall  killed  the  Chinaman,  because 
he  was  seen  coming  from  their  camp  where  the  dead 
body  was  found. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  79 

Flail  was  convicted,  and  his  friends  employed  Mr. 
McConnell  to  take  an  appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State.  No  exceptions  had  been  taken  during 
the  trial,  and  by  the  statute  nothing  could  be  considered 
by  the  Supreme  Court  unless  exceptions  had  been  taken 
in  the  court  below.  I  supposed  of  course  that  the  court 
would  have  to  dismiss  the  case.  Mr.  McConnell  made 
a  short  speech  in  the  opening,  saying  that  Chinese  testi 
mony  was  inadmissible;  that  the  matter  came  under  the 
statute  which  provided  that  the  testimony  of  an  Indian 
should  not  be  taken  against  a  white  man.  He  said 
Chinese  were  the  same  as  Indians  and  that  the  statute 
applied. 

I  replied  to  him  that  no  exception  had  been  taken, 
and  that  even  if  an  Indian  had  testified  the  statute 
would  not  apply.  Of  course,  I  contended  that  they 
were  not  Indians,  but  belonged  to  the  Chinese  race. 
In  his  conclusion  Mr.  McConnell  made  a  very  elaborate 
argument,  attempting  to  prove  that  the  Chinese  and 
Indians  were  of  the  same  race,  and  to  my  surprise  the 
court  held  that  the  statute  prohibiting  Indians  from  tes 
tifying  applied  to  Chinamen,*  they  being  of  the  same 
race,  and  reversed  the  judgment  below.  Justice  Mur 
ray,  in  deciding  the  case,  delivered  a  lengthy  opinion, 
sustaining  the  position  assumed  by  Mr.  McConnell.  I 
had  no  other  evidence  and  entered  a  nolle  pros  in  the 
case. 

While  attending  the  Supreme  Court,  which  was  held 
at  San  Jose,  I  stopped  in  San  Francisco,  and  Rev. 
Doctor  Speer  called  on  me  and  said  there  were  two 
Chinamen  of  the  higher  class  or  nobility  in  town,  being 
entertained  by  the  Six  Chinese  Companies,  who  united 
to  do  them  honor,  and  they  were  anxious  for  me  to 
meet  them  at  dinner.  I  accepted  the  invitation;  but 
before  doing  so,  and  during  the  conversation  with  Doc- 


People  vs.  Hall,  4th  California,  page  399. 


80  Reminiscences  of  William  M.   Stewart 

tor  Speer,  I  asked  him  to  explain  more  fully  to  me  why 
he  had  been  so  reticent  in  regard  to  the  oath  that  would 
bind  a  Chinaman.  This  was  before  the  decision  had 
been  rendered  in  the  case  by  the  Supreme  Court. 

He  said  he  did  not  want  to  state  it  publicly,  as  it 
would  be  prejudicial  to  the  Chinese  in  this  country;  but 
that  in  China,  where  he  had  been  a  privileged  char 
acter,  traveling  all  over  the  country  and  visiting  the 
jails  and  courts  of  justice,  when  a  crime  was  committed 
the  principal  men  of  the  community  were  at  once 
arrested  and  torture  applied  to  make  them  tell  the  truth 
in  regard  to  the  matter;  and  to  avoid  the  torture  they 
invariably  agreed  upon  a  story  they  would  all  tell. 

At  the  dinner  only  four  persons  were  seated,  the  two 
distinguished  Chinese  visitors,  Doctor  Speer,  and 
myself.  The  heads  of  the  Six  Companies,  dressed  in 
silks,  waited  on  the  table.  The  two  visiting  Chinamen 
were  very  accomplished  men.  They  were  graduates  of 
numerous  European  universities,  spoke  several  lan 
guages,  had  examined  our  institutions,  and  appeared 
quite  familiar  with  our  form  of  government.  In  the 
course  of  the  conversation  I  remarked  to  them  that  I 
was  sorry  to  see  the  prejudice  that  existed  between  the 
races,  and  that  I  hoped  on  better  acquaintance  there 
would  be  more  friendly  relations.  The  leading  man 
of  the  two,  who  did  most  of  the  talking,  said : 

"You  are  mistaken.  There  never  can  be  friendly 
social  intercourse  between  the  Chinese  and  the  Ameri 
can  people.  There  may  be  among  the  higher  classes 
who  understand  the  situation,  but  not  among  the  com 
mon  people." 

I  asked  why,  and  if  it  were  on  account  of  color. 

He  replied  in  the  negative,  and  said  it  was  on  account 
of  religion.  The  Chinese,  he  added,  were  very  strongly 
wedded  to  their  religion  and  to  their  gods,  and  had  no 
faith  in  our  religion  or  our  God.  He  said  the  principal 
argument  they  used  was  that  our  American  God  was 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  81 

killed  by  a  man,  and  therefore  could  not  amount  to 
much.  He  said  we  could  not  overcome  this  preju 
dice  with  the  masses  very  soon,  and  perhaps  never. 
"Although,"  he  added,  "we  who  have  been  educated 
understand  your  religion  and  respect  it." 


CHAPTER  VIII 

Fight  over  a  mining  claim — An  outcast  from  camp — I  prevent  a  mob 
from  lynching  an  innocent  man — Nominated  for  District  Attorney 
— Elected — Hot  politics  and  a  bloody  battle — Heroes  with  the 
girls. 

The  miners  made  their  own  laws  and  enforced  them. 
Their  rules  and  regulations  provided  for  the  location 
of  claims,  the  size  of  them,  and  the  amount  of  work 
necessary  to  hold  possession.  Each  mining  camp  or 
district  made  its  own  independent  laws;  but  the  laws 
of  the  various  districts  were  similar,  so  that  a  miner 
going  from  one  district  to  another  would  readily  under 
stand  them. 

On  one  occasion,  in  1850,  I  was  chosen  as  umpire 
to  decide  the  case  of  a  man  who  had  intruded  upon 
another's  claim  with  a  small  tent.  The  testimony 
showed  that  the  original  owner  had  complied  with  the 
regulations  and  was  entitled  to  the  claim,  and  that  the 
man  who  put  up  the  tent  was  an  intruder.  I  so  decided, 
and  with  my  pick  on  my  shoulder  walked  back  to  the 
claim  with  the  party  whom  we  held  to  be  the  rightful 
owner,  to  put  him  in  possession. 

The  man  who  lost  the  case  ran  to  his  tent,  and  as  we 
r$  came  up  to  the  claim  he  rushed  to  the  opening  with  a 
Jj^'  pistol,  and  fired  it.     I  foresaw  his  purpose,  and  threw 
my  pick  and  hit  his  hand  so  that  the  bullet  went  past 
me  without  doing  any  harm.    Then  the  boys  were  intent 
upon  hanging  him  for  it.     I  interfered  in  his  behalf, 
^      but  had  a  very  difficult  time  to  save  him. 
^  Finally  they  agreed  to  let  him  go,  on  condition  that 

*       he  would  leave  in  ten  minutes  and  never  come  back  to 
camp.     He  was  very  much  relieved,  and  said  that  five 
minutes  were  more  than  he  needed  to  get  started. 
One  day  in  the  spring  of   1852  I  was  prospecting 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  83 

in  the  vicinity  of  a  mining  town  called  Rough  and 
Ready  about  ten  miles  from  Nevada  City.  I  rode  a 
mule,  and  had  a  pair  of  navy  revolvers  in  holsters  as 
was  customary  in  those  days.  I  did  not  expect  to  use 
them,  but  it  was  always  considered  convenient  to  have 
them. 

As  I  rode  up  to  a  watering-trough  in  the  town  to 
water  my  mule,  a  small  man,  equipped  as  I  was  with 
pistols,  rode  up  to  water  his  mule.  As  our  steeds  were 
drinking  I  observed  a  company  of  men,  fifty  or  more, 
leading  a  fine-looking  man,  six  feet  tall  and  stripped 
of  all  clothing  except  his  pantaloons,  evidently  for  the 
purpose  of  whipping  him,  as  one  of  the  party  carried 
a  huge  horsewhip.  The  little  stranger  turned  to  me  and 
said: 

"That  is  wrong.    Dare  you  stop  it?" 

"With  you,  I  dare,"  I  replied,  and  drew  out  my  pis 
tol,  while  he  did  the  same.  I  cried  out  at  the  top  of 
my  voice : 

"Stop;  you  have  got  the  wrong  man!" 

As  I  called  out  they  were  about  to  pass  under  a  build 
ing  that  had  no  roof,  but  with  some  boards  on  the 
upper  floor,  and  a  ladder  leading  up  to  it.  I  called  to 
them  to  put  the  prisoner  up  that  ladder  and  appoint  a 
committee.  Mobs  will  usually  act  when  the  word  of 
command  is  given.  They  put  him  up  and  named  me 
as  first  man  on  the  committee.  I  climbed  up  to  the 
man  on  the  boards  and  asked  him  who  he  was.  He  said 
his  name  was  Owens. 

"Where  did  you  come  from?" 

"From  Sonoma  Valley." 

"What  did  you  come  here  for?" 

"To  go  into  the  sawmill  business." 

"Who  is  connected  with  you  in  Sonoma  Valley?" 

"A  man  by  the  name  of  Taylor." 

"What  are  you  accused  of?" 

"Of  stealing  three  hundred  dollars  in  Mexican 
doubloons." 


. 
k  \  \ 


84  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

"Did  you  steal  them?" 

"No." 

"Where  did  you  get  them?" 

"I  got  them  at  Burgoyne's  Bank  in  San  Francisco, 
where  my  partner  and  myself  did  business." 

"Why  are  you  accused  of  stealing  them?" 

"I  slept  last  night  in  the  corral  up  there,  and  as  I 
was  getting  up  this  morning  the  sack  containing  the 
money  rolled  out  from  under  my  head,  where  I  had 
kept  it  during  the  night.  The  man  who  accuses  me 
claims  it  is  his  money,  and  that  I  stole  it." 

"Where  is  the  money?" 

"The  men  who  arrested  me  have  it." 

"Have  you  any  letters  or  papers?" 

"Yes,  in  my  coat  pocket." 

I  searched  the  victim's  coat,  and  the  letters  explained 
the  whole  thing  straight.     Just  at  that  moment  I  saw 
%  a  man  on  a  mule  galloping  down  the  street  as  fast  as 
he  could.     I  cried: 

"There's  your  man!     Get  him!" 

The  mob  started  after  him,  but  he  jumped  over  a 
steep  bank  into  the  Yuba  River,  which  was  a  raging 
torrent,  and  was  drowned. 

I  continued  the  practice  of  law  in  mining  and  all 
sorts  of  cases,  and  at  once  gained  a  good  business.  The 
rules  and  regulations  of  miners  I  understood  as  well 
as  anybody  in  the  country,  and  better  than  any  lawyers 
who  had  not  had  actual  experience  in  mining  and  mak 
ing  rules  and  regulations  for  the  miners,  which  gave 
me  great  advantage  before  juries.  The  next  summer 
I  ran  for  District  Attorney  on  the  Democratic  ticket. 
Mr.  McConnell  ran  for  Attorney-General. 

Two  days  before  the  County  Convention  met  to 
nominate  local  candidates  and  delegates  to  the  State 
Convention,  Mr.  McConnell  said  to  me  that  he  had 
been  offered  a  fee  of  three  hundred  dollars  if  he  would 
go  over  to  Cherokee  Corral,  about  twelve  or  fifteen 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  85 

miles  from  Nevada  City,  to  defend  a  party  of  men  who 
had  whipped  some  negroes. 

He  said  they  had  been  arrested  by  E.  Estes  Hill,  a 
peculiar  character,  who  was  constable  for  the  township 
of  Nevada,  and  would  be  tried  before  Jerry  Woods, 
the  justice  of  the  peace  of  the  township  at  Cherokee 
Corral.  He  wanted  me  to  accompany  him  and  show 
him  the  way  as  he  had  never  been  over  there.  Also, 
he  could  not  very  well  go  unless  I  would  go  over  and 
prosecute  the  parties  as  District  Attorney.  He  said  his 
clients  would  be  better  satisfied  to  pay  him  a  fee  if 
somebody  was  there  to  prosecute  them. 

We  rode  over  the  morning  before  the  convention 
met,  and  found  that  Estes  Hill  had  eight  or  ten  men 
in  charge.  Mr.  McConnell  moved  to  discharge  the 
prisoners  on  the  ground  that  Hill  was  not  an  officer  of 
the  township  where  the  arrest  was  made.  He  made  a 
very  vigorous  and  convincing  argument,  and  then 
stepped  outside. 

In  his  absence  Jerry  Wood,  who  had  been  in  my 
employ  on  the  Grizzly  Ditch,  and  thought  I  knew  all 
about  law,  asked  me  what  I  was  going  to  do  about  it. 
I  told  him  if  he  let  the  prisoners  go  he  would  be  per 
sonally  responsible. 

Mr.  McConnell  asked  me  if  I  intended  to  argue  the 
case.  I  told  him  no,  I  would  submit  it  without  argu 
ment.  He  then  renewed  his  argument,  and  spoke  with 
great  earnestness.  When  he  concluded  Jerry  looked 
him  full  in  the  face  and  said: 

"Mr.  McConnell,  I  can't  let  the  prisoners  go.  I 
would  be  personally  responsible." 

Before  I  left  I  called  Jerry  aside  and  told  him  that 
after  we  were  gone  he  could  let  the  prisoners  go  on  their 
promise  that  they  would  come  back  when  wanted.  We 
returned  to  Nevada  City  a  little  after  sundown.  There 
were  many  delegates  in  town  awaiting  the  convention 
the  next  day.  Harry  Harrington  had  a  very  long 


86  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

saloon  where  the  Democrats  usually  made  their  head 
quarters  during  convention  time.  We  went  into  the 
saloon,  and  some  enthusiastic  delegate  insisted  upon 
treating  everybody.  A  crowd  of  a  hundred  or  more 
lined  up  along  the  bar,  and  while  the  bartenders  were 
shoving  out  the  drinks  I  told  the  Jerry  Wood  incident 
as  a  joke  on  McConnell.  He  flew  into  a  violent  rage, 
and  sprang  for  me  to  wreak  his  revenge.  I  gave  the 
wink  to  some  delegates  near  by,  and  we  took  McCon 
nell  in  custody  and  locked  him  up  for  the  night,  for 
fear  he  would  ruin  his  political  chances  if  he  insisted 
upon  whipping  me. 

The  next  day  the  convention  nominated  me  for  Dis 
trict  Attorney  by  acclamation,  named  delegates  to  the 
State  Convention,  and  passed  a  strong  resolution  in 
favor  of  the  nomination  of  McConnell  for  Attorney- 
General. 

I  moved  that  a  committee  be  appointed  to  wait  upon 
Mr.  McConnell,  present  the  resolution,  and  inform  him 
of  the  harmonious  action  of  the  convention.  Before 
letting  him  out  we  unlocked  his  door  and  passed  in  the 
resolution,  and  inquired  of  him  how  he  felt.  He  said 
he  did  not  feel  as  much  like  fighting  as  he  had  felt  the 
night  before,  and  if  we  would  let  him  out  he  would  say 
no  more  about  it. 

The  campaign  which  resulted  in  the  election  of  Mr. 
McConnell  for  Attorney-General  and  myself  for  Dis 
trict  Attorney  of  Nevada  County  was  very  exciting,  as 
all  political  campaigns  were  in  those  days.  The  voters 
were  nearly  all  young  men  full  of  life  and  vigor,  with 
plenty  of  money  from  the  mines,  and  they  threw  fire 
works  into  politics. 

The  leading  politicians  of  the  State,  both  Whigs  and 
Democrats,  visited  the  principal  settlements  in  the  coun 
ties  and  held  rousing  meetings.  One  lively  incident 
occurred  at  Sweetland's  Hotel,  a  place  subsequently 
known  as  San  Juan.  An  extensively  advertised  ball  was 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  87 

given  at  the  hotel,  and  the  young  people  for  twenty 
or  thirty  miles  around  attended.  Many  of  the  local 
candidates  were  there.  I  arrived  about  sundown,  and 
a  few  minutes  afterward  a  party  of  candidates  from 
Yuba  County  appeared. 

Among  them  were  Charley  Fairfax,  my  old  friend 
who  hauled  gravel  from  our  mine  in  1850  on  Coyote 
Hill,  who  was  running  for  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  State;  McDuffey  from  South  Carolina,  who 
afterward  lost  his  lif'e  in  the  Confederate  Army,  a 
candidate  for  State  Senator  of  Yuba  County,  and  Mike 
Gray,  who  was  then  sheriff  of  Yuba  County,  and  rurf- 
"nmg  for  reelection. 

They  told  me  that  they  had  had  a  difficulty  on  the 
river  bar  below  with  a  large  party  of  mining  men,  who 
were  following  them  for  revenge. 

We  had  entered  a  small  saloon,  and  in  less  than  five 
minutes  between  fifteen  and  twenty  angry  men  were 
heard  inquiring  for  the  gentlemen  from  Yuba. 

I  attempted  to  close  the  door,  but  six  or  eight  men 
forced  it.  The  sudden  meeting  made  a  fight  inevitable. 
I  took  sides  with  my  Yuba  friends,  principally  on 
account  of  my  affection  for  young  Fairfax.  It  was  a 
fierce  battle  for  a  short  time,  but  Mike  Gray  won  the 
day  for  us.  He  did  not  shoot,  but  using  a  heavy  Colt's 
revolver  as  a  club,  he  knocked  the  enemy  down  right  and 
left.  McDuffey  was  also  a  very  efficient  fighter  with  his 
revolver  as  a  club. 

Little  Charley  Fairfax  was  so  small  that  he  was 
actually  thrown  on  the  backs  of  the  belligerents,  and 
tossed  about  like  a  feather.  The  miners  fired  several 
shots,  but  the  skirmish  was  too  lively  for  them  to  take 
aim,  and  the  bullets  went  through  the  thin  board  walls 
without  having  hit  any  one. 

The  fight  lasted  only  a  few  minute's.  I  was  unable 
to  judge  of  time  under  the  circumstances,  because  I  was 
kept  too  busy  for  much  reflection.  So  many  of  the 


A"Vt 

*     iJAT 
tS* 

\^ 
./ 

I 
Jf 

* 


88  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

enemy  were  felled  by  the  clubs  that  an  armistice  soon 
took  place  by  the  tacit  consent  of  all  parties.  Several 
of  the  attackers  were  so  badly  cut  about  the  head  that 
the  services  of  a  doctor  were  demanded. 

I  gave  a  Mexican  boy  a  note  to  a  doctor  ten  or  twelve 
miles  away,  put  him  on  my  mule,  and  told  him  to  go 
quickly,  I  would  risk  the  mule.  There  was  a  store 
house  near  the  hotel,  and  we  took  such  bedding  as  we 
could  get  from  the  hotel  and  moved  the  wounded  to 
the  storehouse,  which  became  an  improvised  hospital. 

McDuffey,  Fairfax,  and  myself  then  repaired  to  the 
ball-room,  Mike  Gray  agreeing  to  manage  the  nursing 
of  the  wounded. 

We  found  the  ladies  entirely  ready  to  dance  with  us. 
They  had  heard  of  the  fight,  and  appeared  to  regard 
us  as  the  heroes  of  the  occasion.  The  other  parties  did 
not  put  in  their  appearance,  but  when  morning  came 
and  the  dance  was  over  the  Yuba  boys  and  I  made  the 
acquaintance  of  the  belligerents  of  the  night  before. 

McDuffey  made  one  of  the  handsomest  apologies 
I  ever  heard  for  what  had  occurred  down  on  the  bar, 
and  the  whole  matter  was  settled  and  we  became  the 
best  of  friends  through  life. 

Fairfax  was  indeed  a  loyal  little  gentleman.  He  was 
elected  clerk  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  while  holding 
that  office  got  into  some  difficulty  with  a  lawyer  named 
Lee,  as  I  how  recollect.  Lee  ran  a  sword-cane  through 
the  body  of  Fairfax,  and  before  the  sword  had  been 
withdrawn,  Fairfax  with  a  cocked  pistol  in  his  hand 
cried,  "You  assassin  !  I  will  spare  your  life  for  your 
wife  and  family."  Although  Fairfax  recovered,  it  was 
said  that  he  never  got  over  the  wound,  and  that  it 
shortened  his  days. 

The  difficulty  at  Sweetlands  was  not  unpopular  with 
the  voters,  for  I  received  nearly  all  the  votes  in  the  town- 
ship  where  the  ball  was  held. 


CHAPTER   IX 

Dueling  in  1852 — Southerners  and  "mackerel  catchers" — The  sleepy 
miner  and  the  fire-eater  who  would  not  fight — I  start  a  newspaper 
in  opposition  to  Aaron  A.  Sargent. 

When  I  began  the  study  of  law  with  Mr.  McCon- 
nell  I  had  some  money  which  I  had  saved  so  that  I 
could  be  useful  to  my  friends.  Mr.  McConnell  was  a 
Kentuckian  by  birth  and  the  Southern  boys  were  in  the 
habit  of  making  his  office  their  headquarters.  I  at 
once  fell  heir  to  the  Democratic  politics  of  the  county. 
Nevada  was  a  rich  mining  county  with  a  population  of 
twenty  or  thirty  thousand,  and  of  course  the  political 
situation  was  a  little  breezy. 

Aaron  A.  Sargent,  afterward  Senator,  was  a  printer 
boy  from  Boston.  The  locality  from  which  he  came 
emphasized  him  as  a  Yankee.  Although  I  was  from 
the  North,  the  Southern  boys  refused  to  recognize  me 
as  such,  and  against  my  protest  continually  claimed  me 
as  one  of  their  kind.  Besides,  Sargent  was  a  Whig  and 
I  was  a  Democrat,  made  so  contrary  to  the  traditions 
of  my  family,  who  were  Federalists,  by  the  admiration 
I  felt  when  a  child  for  the  heroic  stories  told  of  General 
Jackson;  in  other  words,  I  was  a  Jackson  man,  and 
hence  a  Democrat. 

After  I  had  been  appointed  District  Attorney  it  was 
thought  expedient  for  the  Democrats  to  have  a  news 
paper.  Sargent  was  the  editor  of  the  Nevada  Journal, 
which  was  a  Whig  paper,  and  a  very  lively  one  at  that, 
because  Sargent  was  not  only  talented  but  absolutely 
fearless.  He  would  say  what  he  thought  of  anything 
and  anybody. 

I  bought  a  press  which  had  been  brought  to  town  to 
start  the  Democratic  paper,  and  placed  it  in  charge  of 


90  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Robert  Davidge,  commonly  called  "Bob"  Davidge.  At 
that  time  dueling  was  very  common  throughout  Cali 
fornia,  generally  between  the  Northern  and  Southern 
men.  The  Northern  men  were  unaccustomed  to  the 
practice  of  dueling,  and  they  had  been  taught  at  home 
that  it  was  all  wrong;  consequently  they  were  not  experts 
at  the  business.  They  were  as  ignorant  of  the  code  as 
an  Episcopalian  minister  of  the  High  Church  of  Eng 
land  is  of  three-card  monte,  the  strap  game,  bull-fight 
ing,  and  the  like.  But,  nevertheless,  they  engaged  in 
duels,  and  the  fairness  would  of  course  depend  upon 
the  impartiality  of  the  seconds  and  managers  of  the 
affair.  I  did  not  want  to  meet  a  premature  death  or 
have  my  life  jockeyed  away  under  rules  with  which 
I  was  not  familiar. 

Although  the  Southern  boys  were  my  friends,  I  was 
very  much  opposed  to  the  machinery  of  dueling.  I 
finally  told  them  that  I  was  against  it  and  would  not 
fight  a  duel  under  any  circumstances.  They  were  very 
much  astonished  at  that,  because  I  was  a  remarkably 
good  shot  and  they  thought  I  was  capable  of  doing  well 
in  a  duel. 

They  asked  me  what  I  would  do  if  challenged.  I 
told  them  that  I  had  come  to  the  conclusion  that  I 
would  begin  early  if  a  fight  was  on  hand,  and  that  I 
would  shoot  the  man  who  brought  the  challenge,  so 
that  if  anybody  sent  a  challenge  I  would  advise  the 
second  to  come  prepared,  and  if  he  was  not  very  quick 
he  had  better  make  his  will,  for  I  would  be  ready 
to  shoot.  They  finally  concluded  that  I  did  mean  it 
and  I  never  was  challenged. 

Bob  Davidge  was  from  Kentucky.  He  was  young, 
bright,  and  handsome,  and  discussed  dueling  in  a  most 
graphic  manner.  T  told  him  when  we  started  in  with 
the  paper  to  abuse  nobody,  to  get  into  no  controversy 
with  the  Nevada  Journal.  I  said  that  T  regarded  Sar 
gent  as  about  the  most  dangerous  man  in  town  to  fool 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  91 

with,  and  although  the  Southern  boys  were  inclined  to 
call  him  a  "mackerel  catcher,"  a  term  applied  to  New 
Englanders  generally,  that  he  had  better  be  careful  how 
he  treated  him. 

Bob  went  along  with  his  paper  very  smoothly  for  a 
month  or  so,  but  in  the  winter  material  for  newspaper 
sensations  became  a  little  scarce  and  he  began  abusing 
Sargent. 

Sargent  retorted  sharply,  but  gentlemanly.  Davidge 
took  the  genteel  treatment  for  cowardice,  and  increased 
his  abusive  epithets.  Finally  Sargent  wrote  about  him 
the  most  terrifically  abusive  article  I  ever  read.  It  was 
personal,  and  of  such  a  character  that,  if  true,  it  would 
have  excluded  Davidge  from  decent  society,  particularly 
the  society  of  ladies. 

The  flood  had  carried  away  the  bridge  over  Deer 
Creek,  which  crossed  Main  Street  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  yards  below  my  office,  and  a  big  pine  tree  had 
been  felled  across  the  creek  and  poles  put  up  on  either 
side  of  it  for  a  foot  passage.  The  post-office  was  on 
the  other  side  of  the  creek  and  Bob  Davidge  slept  in 
the  post-office.  I  read  the  article  in  the  morning,  and 
as  I  stepped  into  the  street  I  looked  down  and  saw 
Sargent  and  Davidge  pass  each  other  on  the  foot-log. 
They  could  not  pass  without  touching,  and  had  to 
squeeze  by  each  other;  but  Davidge  made  no  effort  to 
attack  Sargent,  which  I  thought  was  a  mark  of  great 
forbearance. 

Few  men  could  have  met  a  man  who  had  written  such 
an  article  and  not  have  resented  the  insult,  particularly 
if  the  passageway  where  they  met  was  so  narrow  as  to 
compel  them  to  crowd  each  other  in  passing. 

Davidge  came  up  to  my  office  and  I  asked  him  if  he 
had  read  the  article.  He  said  he  had.  I  turned  on  my 
heel  and  left  him.  About  half  an  hour  afterward  he 
came  to  my  office  with  a  gentleman  from  Kentucky  by 
the  name  of  Cy  Brown,  a  gallant  fellow,  not  quarrel- 


92          Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

some,  but  fearless.  Brown  said  that  he  had  come  with 
Davidge  to  talk  with  me;  that  I  had  been  very  kind 
to  Davidge  and  that  he  understood  that  I  was  very 
much  opposed  to  dueling.  They  had  come  to  ask  me 
to  waive  my  objections  now,  as  Davidge  had  been  so 
grossly  insulted  that  he  could  not  live  in  the  country 
under  such  charges. 

I  called  Brown  into  another  room  and  told  him  of 
the  meeting  I  had  seen  between  Sargent  and  Davidge 
on  the  foot-log,  and  also  told  him  that  in  case  of  a 
challenge  he  would  have  the  fighting  to  do  as  Davidge 
would  fail.  I  said: 

"All  I  want  to  ask  of  you  is  that  you  won't  take  it 
up  if  Bob  fails';  that  you  will  simply  take  the  challenge 
and  make  the  arrangements  with  Sargent,  and  have  it 
distinctly  understood  that  you  are  not  to  fight." 

Brown  saw  the  propriety  of  my  advice  and  said  he 
would  keep  it.  We  went  back  into  the  office,  and 
Brown  told  Davidge  that  I  had  changed  my  mind  on 
dueling  and  advised  him  to  challenge  Sargent.  He 
sent  the  challenge  to  Sargent  and  Sargent  refused  to 
accept  it,  published  it,  and  then  printed  another  and 
a  meaner  article  than  before  on  Davidge.  He  stated 
that  he  lived  at  Coyoteville,  about  a  mile  from  town, 
and  that  he  would  pass  on  his  way  from  there  to  town 
across  a  narrow  ridge  at  7.30  in  the  morning  every  day 
for  thirty  days,  and  if  anybody  interfered  with  him 
whom  he  couldn't  put  out  of  his  way  it  would  be  his 
misfortune.  We  tried  for  the  thirty  days  to  make 
Davidge  go  to  the  ridge  and  get  in  his  way,  but  he 
would  not  do  it,  and  left  town  and  did  not  come  back 
any  more. 

Another  incident  occurred  the  following  year  at  the 
fall  election.  I  was  still  practicing  law  at  Nevada 
City,  and  the  Southern  boys  still  made  my  office  their 
headquarters. 

There  was  a  young  man  among  them  to  whom  I  was 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  93 

very  much  attached.  His  name  was  William  Windom 
Mason,  a  nephew  of  John  Y.  Mason  of  Virginia.  He 
was  a  tall,  splendid-looking  fellow,  but  with  very  little 
practical  ability.  He  lived  by  acting  as  deputy  sheriff, 
collecting  foreign  miners'  licenses  from  Chinese  and  the 
like,  but  he  was  always  a  good  fellow.  He  ran  for 
some  small  office,  constable  I  think,  and  was  beaten 
badly.  He  attributed  his  defeat  to  a  man  by  the  name 
of  Gardner,  from  Rhode  Island.  Gardner  was  a  man 
of  pretty  good  sense  and  had  commenced  the  practice 
of  law.  He  did  not  appear  to  have  much  animation, 
was  entirely  inoffensive,  but  he  had  on  this  particular 
occasion  taken  a  strong  affirmative  stand  against 
Mason's  election,  and  it  had  been  very  effective. 

When  the  votes  were  counted  Mason  came  into  my 
office  and  told  me  he  was  going  to  cowhide  Gardner. 

"Never  strike  a  sleepy-looking  fellow  like  that,"  I 
said.  "If  you  do  you  will  get  into  trouble.  He  has 
not  done  anything  to  you,  and  the  people  will  not 
justify  you,  and  you  will  get  the  worst  of  it.  You  had 
better  know  whom  you  are  fighting.  I  would  not  tackle 
him  myself  until  I  knew  something  about  him.  Nobody 
knows  what  to  expect  from  him." 

Contrary  to  my  advice,  he  met  Gardner  in  a  saloon, 
and  with  a  pistol  in  one  hand  and  a  whip  in  the  other, 
began  using  the  lash  over  his  head.  Gardner  took 
the  whipping,  saying,  "I  am  unarmed  and  observe  you 
are  armed;  but  I  will  see  you  again,  mind  that." 

The  next  morning  a  report  came  that  Gardner,  with 
pistol  in  hand,  was  about  the  city  stating  that  he  was 
looking  for  one  William  Windom  Mason;  that  his 
object  in  looking  for  him  was  to  settle  a  little  difficulty 
that  commenced  the  evening  before.  Mason  took  his 
pistol  and  went  out  of  my  office  into  the  street.  I  sup 
posed  he  was  going  to  meet  Gardner  and  have  a  fight. 
Instead  of  that  he  ran  between  two  buildings  about  two 
feet  apart  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  street,  and  as 


94          Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Gardner  came  along  he  fired  and  then  dodged  between 
the  buildings  again. 

Gardner  stood  his  ground,  and  fired  at  Mason.  At 
first  every  time  he  shot  he  hit  the  edge  of  the  building, 
but  finally  hit  Mason  in  the  leg  and  the  latter  fell  down. 
The  boys,  without  regard  to  locality,  whether  North 
or  South,  Whig  or  Democrat,  proposed  to  chastise 
Mason.  Two  or  three  of  us  got  him  into  a  room,  and 
had  the  doctor  state  to  the  angry  mob  that  he  was  badly 
wounded,  and  that  it  would  not  do  to  punish  a  wounded 
man.  I  paid  his  expenses  until  he  got  well,  and  he  then 
left  the  town  and  became  a  vagabond. 

These  two  quarrels  made  the  Northern  and  Southern 
boys  friends,  and  blotted  out  completely  sectional  lines 
so  far  as  Nevada  was  concerned. 

These  are  not  cited  as  fair  specimens  of  the  Southern 
boys,  for  they  were  generally  brave  to  a  fault ;  but  they 
simply  had  a  wrong  idea  of  "mackerel  catchers." 


CHAPTER  X 

Zeke  Dougherty's  court — Profanity  from  the  bench  and  frontier 
justice — I  get  the  drop  on  a  desperado  witness — Johnny  Little's 
court  in  Cy  Brown's  saloon,  where  I  win  a  lawsuit  with  a 
demijohn  of  whiskey. 

My  life  in  Nevada  City  during  the  time  I  practiced 
law  and  acted  as  District  Attorney  was  full  of  lively  and 
exciting  incidents. 

During  the  fall  of  1852,  while  McConnell  was 
District  Attorney,  an  amusing  affair  took  place  with 
regard  to  Brother  Bland,  a  Methodist  preacher  from 
Virginia.  Brother  Bland  was  a  good  man,  mild,  accom 
modating,  kind  to  the  poor,  and  really  lived  an 
exemplary  and  praiseworthy  life.  He  had  a  good  wife, 
who  was  also  devoted  to  charitable  works.  They  stood 
very  high  in  the  community.  There  were  quite  a  number 
of  young  married  men  in  the  vicinity,  some  of  whom 
neglected  their  young  wives  by  staying  out  nights, 
playing  poker,  and  drinking. 

This  was  a  grievous  sorrow  to  Brother  Bland,  and  he 
talked  against  it,  and  finally  preached  against  it  in  a 
deprecating  way.  Fie  suggested  four  or  five  names,  and 
stated  how  much  good  these  men  might  do  if  they  would 
accompany  their  wives  to  the  church  and  be  as  good  men 
as  their  wives  were  women. 

One  of  the  young  fellows,  Henry  Miller,  was  a 
Kerituckian  who  thought  he  could  not  stand  anything 
of  the  kind.  He  met  Brother  Bland  on  the  same 
ridge  that  Sargent  was  in  the  habit  of  walking  over 
and  said  to  him: 

"Now,  I've  got  you.  I'm  going  to  settle  with  you  for 
what  you  said  about  me." 

Brother  Bland  told  him  he  did  not  intend  anything 
personal,  but  was  very  sorry  that  he  had  neglected  his 


96  Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

wife,   which  was  a  bad  thing,   especially    in    a    new 
country. 

"I  will  give  you  to  understand,"  said  Miller,  "it  is 
none  of  your  damn  business,  and  I  am  going  to  thrash 
you  right  now." 

Brother  Bland  said  he  did  not  want  to  be  thrashed, 
but  Miller  finally  hit  him.  Bland  then  took  the  young 
fellow  by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  threw  him  over  an  old 
log,  and  gave  him  one  of  the  best  spankings  a  man  ever 
had.  Miller  was  so  enraged  that  he  had  the  preacher 
arrested  for  assault  and  battery. 

We  had  an  old  justice  of  the  peace,  a  peculiar  char 
acter,  by  name  Zeke  Dougherty.  He  was  an  Irishman 
between  seventy  and  eighty  years  old.  He  looked  more 
like  a  skeleton  than  a  human  being,  and  had  a  squealing 
voice  which  would  mount  to  the  sky  in  a  high  key  when 
he  spoke  in  earnest;  but  he  had  a  sense  of  justice  as 
strong  as  any  man  I  ever  knew. 

They  took  the  case  before  old  Zeke,  and  it  being  a 
criminal  one,  the  justice  of  the  peace  had  a  right  to  call 
on  the  District  Attorney  to  prosecute  it.  Uncle  Zeke 
called  on  McConnell  to  prosecute  the  case.  The  popu 
larity  of  the  minister  had  attracted  the  good  people, 
men  and  women,  from  every  part  of  the  country,  and 
the  court-room  was  crowded.  McConnell  delayed 
coming,  as  he  did  not  want  anything  to  do  with  it, 
but  finally  came  in  loaded  with  apt  Biblical  quotations. 
His  speech  was  unique,  humorous,  and  amusing,  and  it 
was  more  against  Miller  than  it  was  against  Bland.  In 
fact,  he  excused  Bland  for  the  battles  he  was  making 
for  his  religion  and  the  Lord  generally. 

When  he  finished  the  judge  was  very  much  excited, 
and  when  in  that  condition  profane  language  was  as 
natural  to  him  as  taking  a  drink  of  whiskey. 

"Mr.  Prisoner,"  he  said,  "it  becomes  my  pleasant 
duty  to  decide  this  case.  I  have  listened  to  the  evidence 
attentively,  and  I'll  be  damned  if  I  can  see  anything 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  97 

in    it    but    a    fair    fight.      You    did    right    and    arc 
discharged." 

Niles  Searles,  afterward  Judge  Searles,  was  a  man 
of  eminent  ability,  and  later  became  Chief  Justice  of 
the  Supreme  Court  of  the  State  of  California.  He  was 
the  Democratic  candidate  for  District  Attorney,  and  C. 
Wilson  Hill  was  the  Whig  candidate  for  that  office. 
We  boys,  Democrats  and  Whigs,  liked  them  both.  We 
did  not  like  their  political  controversy,  as  we  knew  it 
would  be  pretty  close.  We  met  one  evening  to  see  how 
we  could  get  along  with  it,  and  decide  who  should  have 
it  without  having  a  bitter  contest.  So  it  was  suggested 
that  they  should  try  a  case  before  old  Zeke  Dougherty 
and  test  their  aptitude  for  criminal  business. 

Some  boys  from  Rhode  Island,  nice  boys  hitherto, 
had  stolen  some  horses  and  were  caught  with  them  and 
other  plunder.  It  was  proposed  that  theirs  should  be 
the  case.  I,  knowing  that  they  had  stolen  the  horses, 
suggested  that  we  let  Searles  prosecute  and  Hill  defend. 
I  wanted  Searles  elected  on  account  of  his  politics. 

Court  opened  in  the  morning  and  Searles  introduced 
the  witnesses.  The  guilt  of  the  accused  boys  was  proved. 
It  was  very  near  twelve  o'clock  when  Hill  called  for  a 
list  of  ten  or  twelve  witnesses  whom  he  proposed  to 
introduce.  Old  Zeke  asked: 

"And  what  are  you  going  to  prove  by  them  wit 
nesses?" 

."If  your  Honor  please,  these  gentlemen  are  from 
Providence,  Rhode  Island,  and  they  all  knew  the  accused 
at  home  and  can  testify  to  their  good  character." 

"Good  character  be  damned!"  roared  Zeke.  "Ain't 
they  been  proved  to  be  damned  thieves?  Sheriff,  take 
the  prisoners  to  jail.  The  court  is  adjourned." 

Hill  had  to  give  up  the  fight,  and  Searles  was  elected 
District  Attorney. 

There  was  a  character  in  our  vicinity  called  "Yankee" 
Sullivan,  who  was  arrested  for  some  misdemeanor  and 


98          Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

brought  before  old  Zeke.  Zeke  saw  that  he  was  going 
to  bully  everybody  around  the  court-room  and  sent  for 
me,  then  District  Attorney,  and  said: 

"I  want  you  to  prosecute  this  man.  He  is  insolent, 
and'I  believe  all  the  bailiffs  are  afraid  of  him." 

I  knew  there  was  only  one  way  to  go  at  him,  and  that 
was  with  a  pistol.  I  had  my  pistol  in  my  pocket.  The 
old  judge  turned  and  grinned  at  me. 

"Mr.  Sullivan,"  said  I,  "I  am  going  to  cross-examine 
you  in  the  ordinary  way."  He  started  to  put  his  hand 
down.  "Look  out,  I've  got  the  drop  on  you;  don't  put 
your  hand  down  there!  If  you  do  my  pistol  will  go 
off.  Don't  look  so  surly,  for  I'm  afraid  my  pistol  will 
go  off  anyhow."  I  told  him  he  would  have  to  behave 
himself  at  all  events.  He  then  submitted  to  exam 
ination. 

The  judge  fined  him  and  sent  him  to  jail  for  thirty 
days.  After  he  was  sentenced  by  Zeke  I  said  to  him : 

"To  see  that  you  get  there  comfortably,  I  will  go 
with  the  sheriff  down  to  the  jail." 

"You  are  damned  obliging!"  he  returned. 
I  went  down  to  the  jail  and  we  put  him  in.     I  sent 
him  some  whiskey  and  something  to  eat,  and  when  he 
came  out  he  wanted  to  be  my  friend.     Said  he,  "You 
are  the  only  gentleman  I  have  met  in  the  damned  place !" 
The  Legislature  of  California  of  1851  gave  justices 
of  the  peace  unlimited  jurisdiction    in    mining    cases, 
although  their  jurisdiction  by  the  Constitution  was  con 
fined  to  three  hundred  dollars.      Mining    cases    tried 
before  them  often  involved  many  thousands  of  dollars. 
Grass  Valley,  a  town  four  miles  from  Nevada  City, 
was  a  good  mining  camp.    There  was  a  ravine  terminat 
ing  in  a  depression,  or  flat,  extending  from  the  creek 
below  up  to  the  town.     A  combination    was    formed 
which  located  the  entire  ravine.    The  locators  included 
nearly  all  the  men  in  the  town  eligible  for  jury  duty. 
I  had  a  lawyer  friend  there  by  the  name  of  A.  B.  ^ 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart  99 

Dibble,  a  bright  man  who  afterward  became  a  notable 
character  in  the  politics  of  California.  By  the  statute, 
on  the  filing  of  an  affidavit,  a  change  of  venue  could  be 
obtained  from  one  justice  of  the  peace  to  another. 

William  Watt,  afterward  a  leading  citizen  of  Cali- 
fornia,  was  a  Scotchman  who  had  quite  recently  come 
to  the  country.  He  also  located  a  claim,  and  Dibble, 
on  behalf  of  one  of  the  combination  locators,  brought 
suit  against  him  in  a  justice's  court.  Watt  came  up  to 
Nevada  City  and  told  me  the  situation.  He  said  he  had 
no  money,  but  that  he  believed  the  claim  was  valuable 
and  wanted  to  know  if  I  would  take  the  case.  He  said 
if  he  ever  made  money  he  would  pay  me  a  reasonable 
fee. 

He  was,  a  handsome,  honest-looking  man,  and  I  took 
a  liking  to  him.  I  told  him  I  would  do  it,  but  he  said 
that  Dibble  and  the  combination  had  it  all  their  own 
way  in  Grass  Valley,  and  whatever  the  case  was  I  would 
be  beaten.  I  told  him  I  understood  that,  and  we  would 
take  a  change  of  venue.  We  got  a  change  of  venue  to 
Rough  and  Ready,  where  Johnny  Little  was  justice  of 
the  peace. 

He  was  a  little  old  man  with  a  head  as  smooth  and 
as  round  as  a  cocoanut.  I  went  down  to  Rough  and 
Ready  and  saw  my  friend  Cy  Brown,  who  had  a  saloon 
more  than  a  hundred  feet  long.  The  counter  where 
elevating  spirits  were  dispensed  was  eighty  feet  long, 
and  at  the  back  end  was  a  small  room  where  the  boys 
drank  whiskey  and  played  seven-up.  The  justice  of  the 
peace  usually  held  his  court  in  this  retiring-room  of  the 
saloon. 

I  told  Cy  Brown  that  our  case  was  a  difficult  one  on 
account  of  the  situation  at  Grass  Valley.  I  said  I 
wanted  to  play  even  with  that  gang;  that  the  question 
of  justice  did  not  enter  into  cases  at  Grass  Valley,  and 
all  we  wanted  was  rough  justice  anyhow. 

When  the  opposing  counsel  came  over  and  saw  where 


100         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

court  was  to  be  held  they  were  as  anxious  as  I  was  to 
have  Cy  Brown  for  their  friend.  So  we  arranged  to 
have  him  a  common  friend.  Cy  was  an  excellent  hand 
to  keep  order,  because  he  had  a  way  of  persuading 
people  to  mind  their  own  business. 

I  suggested  that  inasmuch  as  water  was  scarce  about 
the  saloon  and  the  parties  might  desire  something  to 
drink  occasionally,  we  enter  into  a  stipulation  that  all — 
jurymen,  witnesses,  lawyers  and  friends — should  have 
all  the  whiskey  they  desired  to  drink,  that  Brown  would 
keep  a  strict  account  of  it,  and  it  should  be  charged  as 
costs  in  the  case,  to  be  paid  by  the  losing  party. 

Johnny  Little,  with  his  tin  dipper  handy,  opened 
court.  Dibble  opened  his  case  with  fabricated  evidence 
of  a  prior  location  to  the  claim  of  Watt.  We  had  in 
defense  a  witness,  a  Scotchman,  who  knew  facts  per 
fectly  conclusive,  and  we  thought  we  would  keep  him 
in  the  dark  and  would  clinch  the  matter  by  his  testi 
mony  in  rebuttal,  which  would  be  the  last  to  be  heard  on 
our  side.  To  my  surprise  it  leaked  out  that  he  was  an 
important  witness,  and  Dibble  and  his  friends  induced 
him  to  imbibe  so  freely  that  he  was  unable  to  testify. 
I  had  with  me  a  Kentucky  gentleman  by  the  name  of 
Joe  Conn  who  was  good  and  honest.  Although  some 
forty  years  of  age,  he  had  very  little  knowledge  of  the 
way  things  ought  to  be  done.  When  we  discovered  the 
condition  of  our  witness  it  was  then  supper-time, 
between  four  and  five  o'clock,  and  I  moved  to  adjourn 
the  case  until  the  next  day. 

Dibble  had  contrived  to  have  somebody  tell  the  judge 
that  I  would  make  that  motion  and  that  it  was  not  in 
good  faith,  but  was  made  simply  because  I  had  no  case, 
so  the  judge  overruled  the  motion.  Things  at  that  point 
of  the  game  looked  rather  squally;  but  as  they  adjourned 
for  supper  I  told  my  friend  Joe  Conn  that  we  had  to 
do  some  business  or  we  were  gone  up,  that  we  must 
get  in  some  counter-work. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         101 

I  called  his  attention  to  a  big  Kentuckian,  a  friend  of 
his,  who  was  very  much  on  the  fight,  and  also  to  a  big 
New  Yorkerj  a  friend  of  mine,  who  was  also  quite 
belligerent  when  he  had  whiskey  in  him.  Both  of  these 
gentlemen  were  on  the  jury.  I  told  Joe  we  must  drink 
with  them  and  incite  them  so  they  would  get  together 
and  try  to  fight.  I  said  I  would  post  Cy  Brown  and  he 
would  prevent  casualties,  but  we  would  have  some  sort 
of  a  row  for  a  while.  We  exercised  ourselves  for  about 
half  or  three  quarters  of  an  hour  getting  into  trouble, 
making  friends  and  taking  frequent  drinks.  The  jury 
likewise  had  to  drink  many  times  to  get  things  healed 
up.  But  through  the  influence  of  Cy  Brown  we  obtained 
a  settlement  in  each  controversy  without  a  fight. 

After  dinner,  which  very  few  of  the  jurors  took  time 
to  eat — they  were  so  busy  with  the  demijohn — court  con 
vened,  at  seven  o'clock.  The  condition  of  the  jury  was 
then  apparent,  and  the  other  side  wanted  an  adjourn 
ment.  I  announced  to  the  court  that  the  case  was 
submitted  and  the  evidence  all  in.  The  other  side  then 
wanted  an  adjournment  before  argument. 

I  denounced  the  proceeding  as  a  trick,  and  told  the 
judge  that  they  knew  very  well  that  after  the  evidence 
was  in,  if  they  got  an  adjournment  it  would  destroy  the 
verdict.  This  was  very  ridiculous,  but  the  judge  did 
not  know  whether  it  was  right  or  wrong,  and  finally,  as 
he  had  denied  me  an  adjournment,  he  thought,  to  make 
it  even,  he  would  deny  them  one. 

It  became  necessary  before  we  concluded  the  argu 
ments  to  have  further  exercises  of  a  pugnacious  nature, 
and  more  drinks,  and  I  said  what  I  could  to  insult 
Dibble.  I  finally  called  him  a  liar  in  very  polite 
language,  and  he  called  me  another.  I  got  wild  with 
rage  and  was  going  to  jump  on  him,  but  Cy  Brown 
happened  in  at  that  time,  having  been  previously  posted, 
and  took  hold  of  me  and  wouldn't  let  me  hit  him. 

Then  we  had  to  have  a  committee  appointed  to  settle 


102        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  trouble  before  the  case  could  proceed,  and  at  each 
turn  in  the  negotiations  we  had  to  take  a  drink,  judge, 
jury  and  all,  very  freely  and  kindly.  We  kept  up  this 
performance  until  about  half  past  ten  o'clock.  I  told 
my  good  friend  Joe  not  to  limit  his  speech,  and  he 
spoke  until  some  time  after  twelve  o'clock,  and  of  course 
he  haito  take  a  drink  with  the  jury.  Then  I  made  a 
speech  of  two  or  three  hours'  duration,  and  every  time 
I  got  tired  we  would  have  refreshments. 

Dibble  then  tried  to  talk  to  the  jury,  but  they  became 
impatient  and  told  him  to  udry  up,"  and  were  very 
boisterous,  and  had  to  take  another  drink.  Finally, 
about  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  case  was  sub 
mitted  to  the  jury.  At  my  suggestion  they  were  left  with 
a  bucket  of  water,  a  lot  of  tumblers,  and  a  demijohn 
of  whiskey  and  were  shut  up.  I  laid  down  on  a  bench, 
and  the  others  also  retired  wherever  they  could  find 
a  place  to  roost,  and  slept  until  some  time  after  daylight. 
We  were  all  in  a  condition  where  sleep  was  the  most 
natural  thing  that  could  happen  to  a  man. 

Jerome  Keyser  was  one  of  the  jurors,  and  had  a 
bank  right  opposite  Brown's  saloon.  When  I  awoke  I 
saw  Keyser  in  his  bank,  and  he  was  as  mad  as  any  man 
could  be.  He  had  not  drunk  a  drop  during  all  the 
proceedings. 

Of  course  the  jury  had  separated,  and  no  verdict  could 
be  rendered;  it  was  a  mistrial.  There  was  a  provision 
in  the  law  that  the  party  moving  for  a  new  trial  should 
pay  the  costs.  We  made  up  the  bill  of  costs,  which  was 
$1380.  Of  tha.t  $i  140  was  for  the  good  things  we  had 
had  over  the  bar.  The  other  side  were  unable  to  pay 
the  costs,  so  no  new  trial  was  had,  and  we  entered 
judgment  for  costs,  and  issued  execution  in  favor  of 
Watt,  who  had  the  claim  sold  and  bought  it  in.  He 
made  some  money  out  of  it  and  became  my  friend  for 
life, 


CHAPTER  XI 

Reign  of  terror  in  San  Francisco — Judge  Botts  changes  his  politics 
— The  most  eloquent  man  in  America,  and  how  a  citizen  of 
California  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  from  Oregon 
— My  marriage — I  clear  a  murderer  and  get  the  Jury  in  trouble. 

While  acting  as  Attorney-General  in  1854  I  removed 

to  San  Francisco  and  formed  a  law  partnership  with 

Hon.  Henry  S.  Foote,  ex-United  States  Senator  from, 

and  ex-Governor  of,  Mississippi.    Hon.  Louis  Aldrich, 

who  had  been  a  judge  of  the  District  Court,  and  Ben- 

.    jamin  Watkins  Lee  of  Virginia,  were  also  in  the  firm, 

L  which  lasted  about  a  year,  doing  a  good  business. 

In  the  mean  time,  Governor  Foote's  family  came  out, 
and  in  the  spring  of  1855  I  married  his  third  daughter, 
Miss   Anne   E.   Foote,   a   brilliant   and   accomplished 
woman,  with  remarkable  conversational  powers.'    She 
was    a   great   student,    and   during   our   married   life 
y/^jacquired  most  of  the  modern  languages.    We  had  three 
:>*      daughters,  two  of  whom  still  survive.    My  wife's  sud 
den  death  in  an  automobile  accident  in  Alameda,  Cali 
fornia,  in  1902,  after  forty-seven  years  of  married  life, 
was  one  of  the  tragedies  of  my  life. 

Soon  after  my  marriage  I  left  San  Francisco  and 
returned  to  Nevada  City.     Mr.  McConnelPs  term  as     I 
Attorney-General  having  expired,  we  formed  a  partner- 
ship  and  practiced  law,  enjoying,  for  a  short  time,  very 
extensive  practice.     I  built  a  house  a  little  outside  of 
i       the  town,  and  the  day  after  I  moved  the  town  burnt  1 1 
•*     down.    The  house  is  still  standing.    In  the  mean  time,     * 
I  had  been  in  the  habit  of  practicing  law  in  Downie- 
ville,  and  I  thought  it  best  to  "go  it  alone";  so  M 
McConnell  and  myself  dissolved  partnership. 

In  1856  things  had  gone  from  bad  to  worse  in  San 
Francisco,  until  the  people  arose  and  appointed  a  vigil- 


104        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

ance  committee  in  self-defense.  The  rough  element  of 
San  Francisco  had  had  their  own  way  for  several  years, 
which  was  very  annoying  to  respectable  people. 

While  I  was  practicing  law  in  San  Francisco  in  1854 
I  had  an  office  in  Montgomery  block,  adjoining  the 
office  of  Judge  Botts  of  Virginia,  a  brother  of  Gov 
ernor  John  Minor  Botts.  Judge  Botts  went  to  the 
polls  one  election  day  to  exercise  the  right  of  franchise. 
The  precinct  in  which  he  voted  was  about  the  toughest 
in  town.  When  the  Judge  attempted  to  deposit  the 
ballot  the  by-standers  took  him  off  his  feet,  elevated 
him,  and  passed  him  from  one  to  the  other  without 
letting  him  touch  the  ground  for  more  than  a  block. 
During  the  performance  they  made  his  clothes  look  as 
though  they  had  been  picked  .from  a  rag  bag.  He 
came  into  my  room  in  a  most  excited  condition,  froth 
ing  at  the  mouth,  with  his  eyes  flashing  vengeance 
against  the  world. 

"I've  changed  my  politics!"  he  cried. 

"What  has  happened,  Judge?" 

"What  has  happened?"  he  roared.  "I've  changed  my 
politics!" 

"What  politics  have  you  adopted?" 

"I  am  in  favor  of  an  absolute  monarchy,  limited  only 
by  the  right  of  assassination." 

"Well,"  said  I,  "do  you  think  that  better  than  our 
form  of  government?" 

"There  is  a  possibility  of  vengeance  in  that  kind  of 
a  government  for  wrongs  and  insults  inflicted,"  he 
answered.  "By  the  eternal,  there  is  none  here!  I  have 
been  bamboozled  and  hurled  about  for  the  last  half 
hour,  and  God  knows  how  I  can  ever  get  even  with 
those  wretches!" 

Col.  Edward  Dickinson  Baker,  who  had  been  a 
Representative  in  Congress  from  Illinois,  who  was  a 
veteran  of  the  Mexican  war,  and  who  was  subsequently 
Senator  from  Oregon,  and  probably  the  most  eloquent 


A^S 
l/:n 


( 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         105 

orator  who  has  ever  appeared  in  the  United  States, 
had  been  engaged  in  the  defense  of  some  celebrated 
criminals  in  San  Francisco.  James  A.  McDougall,  who 
was  afterward  United  States  Senator  from  Cali 
fornia,  also  had  been  engaged  in  defending  some  very 
bad  men,  although  nobody  accused  either  of  them  of 
anything  dishonorable  or  unfair  in  their  practice. 

There  was  a  man  by  the  name  of  Corey  whom  both, 
at  various  times,  had  defended.  Core^Wffs  accused  of 
killing  a  United  States  marshal  by  the  name  of  Richard 
son.  Richardson  and  Corey  were  out  in  the  dark 
together  and  Corey  shot  him.  Richardson  was  the 
violent  man  I  ever  knew.  While  practicing  in 
Francisco,  Watkins  Lee,  a  young  gentleman  by  the 
:name  of  Glassejl,  and  tvPo"~or  three  others  were  gen 
erally  assTSSaTecTT  Richardson  frequently  inyited  us  to 
dinner,  much  more  often  than  we  desired  to  attend, 
for  he  would  get  mad  and  shoot  without  warning,  like 
a  clap  of  thunder  from  a  clear  sky.  He  killed  a  man 
at  a  stage  station  between  Sacramento  and  Marysville 
without  any  apparent  provocation,  and  got  off  by 
strategy. 

There  is  not  much  doubt  but  that  Corey  shot  Rich 
ardson  in  self-defense.  Those  who  knew  Richardson 
thought  that,  but  the  killing  of  a  United  States  marshal, 
coupled  with  some  other  offenses  which  Corey  had  com- 
mitted,  marked  him  as  one  of  the  victims  of  the  vigil 
ance  committee.  Neither  Baker  nor  McDougall  could 
say  anything  in  his  behalf.  They  had  to  leave  him 
to  his  fate,  and  he  was  afterward  hanged  by  the 
committee. 

To    be    rid    of    the    excitement,    both    Baker    and 
McDougall  went  to  Nevada  City  and  lived  with  me  in 
the  new  house  which  I  occupied,  and  which  had  not  ^ 
been  burned  at  the  time  the  town  was  destroyed. 

I  had  an  important  case  for  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Conger.  It  involved  the  right  to  turn  the  Middle 


106        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Yuba  River  out  of  its  bed  and  convey  it  a  long  distance 
for  mining  purposes.  The  case  was  to  be  tried  in 
Downieville,  Sierra  County,  where  the  property  was 
situated.  I  wanted  each  of  my  guests  to  obtain  a 
good  fee. 

I  had  my  client,  Conger,  employ  McDougall  as  my 
associate,  because  he  was  the  best  lawyer  of  the  two; 
but  I  was  anxious  that  Baker  stouW  have  a  show  also,  /  , 
and  I  urged  a  friend  to  suggest  his  name  to  Doctor  *^ 
Weaver  on  the  other  side.    The  Doctor  employed  him. 

We  went  up  to  Downieville  to  try  the  case.  I  pre 
sented  the  case  to  the  jury,  examined  the  witnesses,  and 
made  the  opening  argument.  Baker  followed  me,  and 
I  believe  he  gave  me  the  most  eloquent  and  scorching 
tongue-lashing  that  a  white  man  ever  received.  This 
occasioned  great  amusement  and  considerable  satisfac 
tion  among  those  who  had  suffered  at  my  hands  in 
mining  litigation  in  that  community.  They  thought 
I  had  had  it  my  own  way  long  enough,  and  they  were 
glad  to  see  me  get  the  worst  of  it. 

I  relied  on  McDougall  to  close  the  case,  because  I 
had  promised  him  that  post  of  honor;  otherwise,  I 
would  have  made  an  effort  to  make  some  kind  of  a 
reply  to  Baker.  The  next  morning  McDougall  came 
in,  walking  very  straight,  looking  very  serious,  and 
proceeded  at  once  to  argue  the  case  to  the  jury.  He 
had  not  spoken  two  sentences  before  it  was  apparent 
that  he  was  too  drunk  for  utterance.  He  made  a  dead 
failure.  On  Inquiry  I  found  that  those  who  had  been 
rejoicing  over  my  discomfiture  the  day  before  had 
treated  him  very  liberally  during  the  night  by  furnish 
ing  him  such  beverages  as  make  men  first  hilarious  and 
then  stupid. 

The  jury  in  five  minutes  brought  in  a'  verdict  against 
me,  whereupon  every  man  in  the  county  who  had  liti 
gation  opposed  to  my  clients  employed  General  Baker. 
He  received  in  two  days  retainers  amounting  to  over 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        107 

twenty  thousand  dollars  in  cash.  Then  came  the  tug 
of  war  between  him  and  me,  he  on  one  side  and  I  on 
the  other,  for  the  space  of  nearly  two  months.  It  so 
happened  that  he  was  unfamiliar  with  the  local  condi 
tions,  the  rules  and  regulations  of  miners,  and,  above 
all,  the  likes  and  dislikes  of  the  mining  community. 

I  told  the  jury  in  each  case  that  Baker  could  out- 
talk  any  man  on  earth.  I  told  them  how  he  had  lashed 
me,  and  explained  why  he  was  employed.  I  said  I  was 
mighty  glad  he  got  the  money,  but  they  must  not  be 
fooled  by  him,  and  I  beat  him  in  every  case. 

He  said  he  had  tried  a  good  many  jury  cases,  and  that 
I  was  the  only  man  he  ever  saw  who  had  a  confidential 
understanding  with  the  jury  right  in  the  presence  of 
the  court.  Baker  appealed  the  cases,  but  while  he  was 
beyond  all  bounds  the  most  eloquent  man  I  have  ever 
heard,  the  details  of  the  practice  were  unfamiliar  and 
I  succeeded  in  getting  the  Supreme  Court  to  dismiss  all 
of  his  appeals.  Although  he  received  more  than  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  to  appeal  the  cases,  he  never  got  a 
record  that  the  court  would  entertain. 

Baker  came  to  the  conclusion  that  he  would  like  to 
go  to  the  United  States  Senate.  A  Senatorial  election 
was  about  to  take  place  in  Oregon.  He  went  up  there, 
got  the  Legislature  to  invite  him  to  address  them,  made 
a  few  speeches,  captured  the  Legislature,  and  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate,  all  within  a  very 
short  time,  probably  not  more  than  a  month.  He  went 
to  the  Senate,  taking  his  seat  December  5,  1860,  and 
made  a  remarkable  speech  in  reply  to  General  Breckin- 
ridge*,  and  shortly  afterward,  October  21,  1861,  was 
killed  in  battle  at  Balls  Bluff,  Va.,  at  the  head  of  a 
California  brigade. 

In  the  fall  of  1856  I  took  up  my  residence  at 
Downieville,  Sierra  County,  California,  where  I  had 


*Congressional   Globe,    Appendix,    ist    Sess.,   37th    Cong.,    1861, 
pp.  423-424- 


108         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

been  practicing  law  most  of  the  time  for  more  than  a 
year.  I  built  another  house  at  that  place  some  distance 
from  the  crowded  portion  of  the  city,  and  a  few  days 
after  I  had  moved  in  that  town  was  burned,  and,  as 
before,  my  home  was  saved. 

I  formed  a  partnership  with  Peter  Van  Clief,  who 
was  a  man  of  superior  ability,  clear-headed,  and  a  very 
able  lawyer.  Almost  his  only  fault  was  modesty  and  a 
disinclination  to  push  himself  forward.  We  practiced 
law  together  about  a  year,  when  he  was  appointed  Judge 
of  the  District  Court. 

Downieville  was  located  on  the  North  Yuba  River, 
where  the  mountains  on  either  side  are  about  4000 
feet  higher  than  the  river.  In  winter  it  is  almost  shut 
out  from  the  world  by  very  deep  snows.  Downieville 
was  the  county-seat,  but  there  was  a  lull  of  business  two 
or  three  months  of  each  winter.  This  furnished  me  a 
very  much  needed  opportunity  to  study  law,  and  I 
devoted  myself  night  and  day  to  reading  Coke  on 
Littleton.  I  read  it  through  twice,  made  elaborate 
notes,  and  improved  myself  very  much  in  my  capacity 
to  investigate  cases. 

After  Judge  Van  Clief  was  appointed  to  the  bench  I 
formed  a  partnership  with  Harry  I.  Thornton,  who  was 
District  Attorney.  Mr.  Thornton  was  one  of  the 
Virginia  family  of  Thorntons,  although  born  in  Ala 
bama,  to  which  State  his  father  had  removed,  becoming 
a  leading  lawyer,  and  being  appointed  by  President 
Fillmore  as  one  of  the  Land  Commissioners  of 
California. 

Harry  Thornton  was  a  brilliant  young  man.  He  was 
elected  to  the  California  State  Senate  in  1860,  resigning 
at  the  close  of  the  first  session,  about  the  time  the  war 
began.  He  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army,  made  a 
splendid  record,  returned  to  the  Pacific  Coast,  practiced 
law,  made  money  and  friends,  and  was  universally 
beloved. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        109 

When  Mr.  Thornton  and  I  agreed  to  form  a  partner 
ship  it  was  understood  that  Alexander  W.  Baldwin,  a 
son  of  Joe  Baldwin,  then  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court 
of  California,  and  famous  as  the  author  of  "Flush 
Times,"  was  to  be  appointed  District  Attorney  in  the 
place  of  Thornton. 

While  these  changes  were  taking  place,  and  before 
Thornton  had  left  his  office  and  joined  me,  a  very 
sensational  homicide  occurred  at  a  place  called  Eureka, 
high  on  the  mountains  about  four  miles  from  Downie- 
ville.  Two  years  previous  a  tall,  consumptive-looking 
Irishman  from  the  north  of  Ireland,  whose  name  was 
White,  had  testified  in  a  murder  case  against  an  over 
grown  Irish  boy  by  the  name  of  Mike  Murray.  Mike 
Murray  was  about  eighteen  or  nineteen  years  old,  weak 
in  intellect,  but  physically  a  giant,  weighing  nearly  three 
hundred  pounds.  Robert  Taylor,  an  eloquent,  cultured, 
and  emotional  man,  defended  Murray,  who  had  been 
convicted  of  murder  in  the  first  degree,  principally  on 
the  testimony  of  White. 

Everybody  in  the  community  thought  that  Mike 
Murray  had  been  the  instrument  of  some  saloon  keepers 
who  wanted  a  man  killed,  and  that  Murray  did  not 
know  what  he  was  doing  at  the  time.  Feeling  was  very 
strong  in  his  favor,  but  the  diabolical  description  of 
the  deed  by  White  secured  his  conviction.  I  was  so 
impressed  with  the  belief  that  Murray  was  a  tool  of 
others  that  I  took  a  petition,  numerously  signed,  to  Gov 
ernor  Weller,  asking  his  pardon;  but  he  was  hanged. 

There  were  two  young  men  in  the  mining  camp  who 
were  highly  respected — Ellis,  a  Scotchman,  and 
O'Brien,  an  Irishman.  They  had  a  dispute  about  the 
ownership  of  a  mining  claim  which,  after  about  six 
months,  became  very  acute. 

One  day  in  December,  1859,  they  met  at  the  claim, 
where  the  snow  was  about  two  feet  deep.  Others 
present  were  the  man  White,  who  had  testified  in  the 


110         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Mike  Murray  case,  and  a  man  by  the  name  of  Lazenby, 
from  New  England,  who  was  a  barber  by  trade,  and 
stuttered  so  badly  that,  when  he  was  excited,  it  was 
impossible  for  him  to  utter  a  word  that  anybody  could 
understand. 

Ellis  and  O'Brien  quarreled,  and  Ellis  drew  a  large 
bowie  knife,  stabbed  O'Brien  in  the  breast,  and  literally 
cut  him  open. 

The  person  who  notified  the  sheriff  brought  a 
message  to  me  from  Ellis  asking  me  to  defend  him.  I 
sent  back  word  that  I  would  do  so.  I  immediately 
sent  the  county  surveyor,  Isaac  E.  James,  with  an 
assistant,  to  make  a  map  of  the  ground  with  all  its 
surroundings  where  the  homicide  occurred.  Ellis  was 
brought  down  and  lodged  in  the  jail,  but  before  he 
arrived  I  had  learned  the  details  of  the  affair  and  com 
menced  my  plan  for  the  defense. 

Ellis  was  anxious  for  an  interview  with  me,  which  I 
declined,  simply  sending  him  word  that  I  had  charge 
of  his  case  and  did  not  want  to  be  interrupted  by  him. 
He  complained  very  bitterly  of  my  conduct  and  wanted 
to  employ  some  other  attorney,  but  no  one  would  consent 
to  serve  while  I  declared  that  I  was  his  counsel  and 
would  take  care  of  the  case. 

In  the  mean  time,  Mr.  Thornton,  who  had  drawn  the 
indictment  and  presented  it  to  the  grand  jury,  had 
resigned,  and  young  Baldwin  had  been  appointed 
District  Attorney.  Thornton  appealed  to  me  to  give 
up  the  case  and  let  some  other  attorney  take  it.  He 
said  that  conviction  was  sure,  and  that  it  was  not  worth 
while  to  occupy  time  with  it.  I  told  him  I  would  not 
give  it  up. 

Before  the  trial  I  examined  the  testimony  of  White, 
which  had  been  taken  down  in  shorthand,  against  Mike 
.Murray.  It  so  happened  that  the  sheriff  was  an  Irish 
man  by  the  name  of  Pat  White,  and  the  deputy  sheriff 
was  also  an  Irishman  by  the  name  of  Dick  Brown. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         111 

There  was  a  large  settlement  of  Irish  about  four 
miles  down  the  river  at  Owsley's  Bar,  noted  for  their 
clannishness  and  prejudice  against  everybody  in  general 
and  Scotchmen  in  particular. 

The  case  was  called  for  trial.  Robert  Taylor,  who 
had  defended  Mike  Murray,  had  been  elected  judge, 
and  presided.  The  list  of  jurymen  was  read,  and  I 
observed  that  Pat  White  had  summoned  about  an  equal 
number  from  Owsley's  Bar  and  Downieville.  The  men 
of  Downieville  wore  clean  clothes  and  "biled  shirts" 
and  looked  very  respectable.  I  was  afraid  of  them.  I 
did  not  think  they  were  suitable  for  the  business  on 
hand. 

Under  the  law  the  State  had  five  peremptory  chal 
lenges  and  the  defense  twenty.  As  the  jurymen  were 
called  I  refrained  from  examining  them  on  their  voire 
dire  as  to  whether  they  had  umade  up  their  minds," 
etc.,  but  used  my  peremptory  challenges  against  the 
"biled  shirt"  fraternity,  accepting  always  without  ques 
tion  the  denizens  of  Owsley's  Bar. 

My  client  was  terribly  distressed,  and  protested  until 
the  sheriff  had  to  hold  him  in  his  seat.  The  judge  knew 
me  pretty  well  and  did  not  like  to  interfere  with  me, 
taking  it  for  granted  that  I  knew  my  own  business. 

The  panel  was  finally  completed  and  sworn  in.  On 
looking  it  over  I  was  satisfied  that  it  was  the  jury  I 
wanted.  Although  every  man  was  against  a  Scotchman 
on  general  principles,  they  hated  the  people  of  the 
North  of  Ireland  of  the  Protestant  stripe  with  a  bitter 
ness  that  was  vindictive ;  and  particularly  that  North  of 
Ireland  gentleman  who  had  sworn  away  the  life  of 
Mike  Murray. 

The  case  lasted  three  days.  It  was  prosecuted  by 
young  Baldwin,  the  District  Attorney,  who  was  bright, 
ambitious,  and  enthusiastic.  He  was  over-eager  for 
conviction,  it  being  his  first  murder  case.  He  was 
assisted  by  Judge  William  Campbell,  who  had  been  for 


112         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

a  few  months  a  county  judge.  Judge  Campbell  was 
also  young  and  vigorous,  but  not  fully  armed  with 
discretion. 

These  gentlemen  had  at  their  back  a  host  of  witnesses 
from  Eureka,  leaving  the  town  nearly  a  solitude.  Their 
witnesses  testified  to  all  the  circumstances  leading  up 
to  the  homicide,  the  dispute  about  the  mining  claim  in 
all  its  phases,  and  the  threats  of  Ellis  against  O'Brien. 

I  said  nothing  and  cross-examined  none  of  the 
witnesses,  although  my  client  was  writhing  in  agony. 
The  bystanders,  although  they  believed  him  guilty,  were 
angry  with  me.  I  am  satisfied  that  Judge  Taylor  shared 
the  same  feeling,  and  I  was  constantly  in  fear  of  a  repri 
mand  from  him. 

Finally,  the  star  witness,  White,  was  put  upon  the 
stand.  A  more  diabolical  story  than  he  told  in  describ 
ing  the  homicide  has  never  been  heard  in  any  court-room 
where  the  English  language  or  any  other  language  is 
spoken.  When  the  witness  was  turned  over  to  me,  as 
all  the  others  had  been,  instead  of  turning  my  head  and 
remaining  silent  as  before,  I  said: 

"Have  you  ever  had  any  occupation  except  that  of 
swearing  away  the  lives  of  men?  If  so,  state  it." 

Whereupon,  as  I  had  anticipated,  the  prosecution 
jumped  to  their  feet  at  once  and  demanded  of  the  court 
protection  for  the  witness.  Said  I : 

"This  court  will  not  protect  the  man  that  swore  away 
the  life  of  Mike  Murray." 

There  was  profound  silence.  Judge  Campbell  rushed 
into  the  clerk's  office,  which  was  the  adjoining  room, 
and  brought  out  the  volume  of  testimony  in  the  Mike 
Murray  case  and  laid  it  on  a  table.  As  he  did  so,  the 
volume  fell  open,  and  I  brought  down  my  fist  on  it  so 
hard  that  the  table  collapsed,  saying,  "Put  away  that 
bloody  record!" 

These  proceedings  appeared  to  attract  the  attention 
of  the  jury  somewhat.  By  that  time  I  observed  tears 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         113 

coming  into  Judge  Taylor's  eyes.  He  was  thinking 
about  Mike  Murray.  I  rose  rather  speedily,  and  begged 
the  pardon  of  the  court.  I  made  my  apology  so  humble 
that  it  was  actually  accepted,  and  nothing  further  was 
said.  I  then  changed  my  tone  and  asked  the  witness, 
White,  to  describe  the  place  where  the  killing  occurred. 
He  gave  a  description  in  a  very  cool  and  collected 
manner;  but,  as  I  anticipated,  it  was  entirely  incorrect, 
because  no  man  under  these  circumstances  could  possibly 
remember  the  details  of  the  locality.  That  closed  the 
case  for  the  prosecution. 

I  then  called  Ike  James,  the  surveyor,  with  his  map, 
and  exhibited  it  to  the  jury,  showing  everything  sur 
rounding  the  place — the  stumps,  the  snow,  the  tracks, 
etc. — which  of  course  was  entirely  different  from  the 
description  given  by  White. 

I  then  called  up  Lazenby,  the  stuttering  barber,  and 
found  him  in  a  very  excited  state  of  mind.  I  said : 

"Did  you  see  O'Brien  raise  that  shovel  to  strike 
before  Ellis  used  the  knife?" 

He  tried  to  answer  and  stuttered  away.  I  pre 
tended  to  assume  that  he  had  answered  my  question  in 
the  affirmative,  and  turned  him  over  to  the  other  side. 
Their  efforts  to  get  him  to  say  anything  intelligible  were 
unavailing.  He  stammered  and  stuttered,  so  I  rested 
my  case. 

Then  Judge  Campbell  made  the  opening  speech  to 
the  jury  for  the  prosecution.  It  was  a  terrible  arraign 
ment  of  Ellis  and  a  eulogy  of  the  star  witness  White. 
When  he  got  through  I  did  not  rise  to  reply,  but 
remained  in  my  seat.  The  Judge  asked  me  if  I  did 
not  intend  to  address  the  jury,  and  I  then  arose  and 
said: 

"May  it  please  your  Honor," — not  looking  at  the 
jury  at  all, — "this  jury  is  just  as  good  a  judge  as  I  am 
whether  this  man  White  has  an  unlimited  right  to  swear 
away  lives.  They  have  heard  the  testimony,  and  if 


114        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

they  think  White  ought  to  swear  away  another  life,  let 
them  so  decide."    I  then  sat  down. 

Young  Baldwin,  just  as  I  expected,  made  an  eloquent 
speech,  devoting  a  large  portion  of  it  to  praise  of  White, 
which  kept  White  before  the  jury  the  whole  of  his 
argument. 

The  jury  went  out,  and  in  about  three  minutes  came 
back  with  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty." 

I  was  standing,  and  the  prisoner  was  seated  in  the 
chair  that  he  had  occupied  during  the  trial.  He  got 
hold  of  me  then  and  asked  me  if  he  was  a  free  man.  I 
said  in  a  whisper: 

"You  are  free  now,  but  if  you  are  in  this  town  at  the 
end  of  twenty  minutes,  you  will  be  hung.  If  you  can 
get  up  that  mountain  before  the  jurymen  get  out  and 
mingle  among  their  friends  and  find  out  what  they 
have  done,  you  are  all  right." 

He  left  the  court-room  on  the  run  and  hustled  up 
the  mountain. 

When  the  jury  had  taken  a  drink  with  the  outsiders 
and  talked  the  matter  over,  the  crowd  started 
after  Ellis  dispose  of  him,  but  they  could  not 
catch  him. 

I  never  saw  Ellis  after  that;  but  in  1869,  nine  years 
afterward,  I  addressed  a  political  meeting  during 
Grant's  first  campaign  in  White  Pine  County,  Nevada. 
As  I  left  the  hall  and  was  walking  up  the  street — there 
were  no  lights  and  it  was  quite  dark — I  passed  where 
two  buildings  were  about  two  feet  apart.  A  hand  out 
of  the  darkness  grasped  me,  and  a  low  voice  said : 

"I  am  Ellis.    Take  this;  say  nothing." 

I  took  the  package  and  put  it  into  my  pocket,  and 
when  I  reached  my  room  and  examined  it  I  found  $700 
in  greenbacks.  I  suppose  Ellis  had  changed  his  name. 
He  had  sufficient  reason  for  doing  so,  because  he  would 
have  been  liable  to  assassination  at  any  time  during  the 
lives  of  the  friends  of  O'Brien. 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart         115 

After  the  acquittal  of  Ellis  I  made  a  solemn  resolve 
that  I  would  never  again  be  engaged  to  defend  a  man 
in  a  criminal  case  for  money;  that  if  ever  I  went  into 
a  criminal  court  it  would  be  only  for  a  friend,  and  I  have 
kept  my  resolution,  although  I  had  been  quite  successful 
in  defending  several  criminals  previous  to  that  time. 


CHAPTER  XII 

I  become  interested  in  politics — Governor  Bigler  insulted — Appointed 
Attorney-General — Terry  and  Broderick  duel — A  tragedy  in  a 
hair  trigger — Crabbs's  expedition  to  Mexico. 

From  the  time  I  entered  McConnell's  office  in  the 
spring  of  1852  until  I  left  California  in  the  spring  of 
1860  I  was  deeply  interested  in  the  politics  of  that 
State.  My  participation  in  the  local  affairs  of  Nevada 
County  brought  me  into  contact  with  the  politicians  of 
the  State  who  desired  to  control  the  delegations  from 
that  county,  both  in  State  conventions  and  in  the  Legis 
lature.  I  usually  went  to  the  State  Convention  and 
participated  in  the  nomination  of  State  and  Federal 
officers. 

Among  the  men  who  controlled  the  destinies  of 
California  in  early  days  there  were  many  remarkable 
characters,  one  of  whom  was  William  M.  Gwin.  I 
canvassed  Nevada  County  and  several  of  the  northern 
counties  with  him  in  the  fall  campaign  of  1853  while 
I  was  a  candidate  for  District  Attorney.  He  was  a 
genial  companion,  conversed  freely  on  national  politics, 
and  gave  me  much  information  in  regard  to  the  leading 
men  of  the  nation.  He  was  the  recognized  leader  of  the 
Southern  Democracy. 

David  C.  Broderick  was  from  New  York,  and  was 
the  idol  of  the  Tammany  forces  who  immigrated  with 
him,  and  whose  stronghold  was  the  city  of  San 
Francisco. 

John  Bigler  was  Governor  and  a  candidate  for 
reelection ;  he  was  regarded  as  a  Broderick  man.  Gwin 
was  popular  in  Nevada  City,  which  created  a  coolness 
for  the  Governor.  During  the  campaign  Governor 
Bigler  came  to  Nevada  City  and  addressed  his  con 
stituents,  but  he  was  not  enthusiastically  received.  The 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         117 

Whigs  took  advantage  of  the  situation  and  interrupted 
the  Governor  by  asking  questions  and  making  a  noise 
during  his  address. 

When  he  concluded,  the  Whigs  called  on  a  radical, 
John  A.  Collins,  to  reply.  Collins  was  nominally  a 
Whig,  but  if  he  were  now  living  he  would  be  called  a 
Socialist.  He  had  great  capacity  for  violent  and  abusive 
speech,  and  he  took  occasion  to  attack  the  Governor 
in  the  most  vivid  language. 

Sheriff  Endicott,  a  Democrat  from  Kentucky  and  a 
sympathizer  with  Senator  Gwin,  came  to  me  and  said 
that  we  could  not  afford  to  allow  the  Governor  of 
the  State  to  be  treated  in  that  manner  in  our  town,  and 
that  when  Collins  got  through  I  must  take  the  stand  and 
serve  Collins  as  he  had  treated  the  Governor.  He  added 
that  the  Whigs  were  much  excited  and  would  undoubt 
edly  attempt  violence  if  I  said  all  the  mean  things  I 
could  think  of  to  Collins  and  his  friends,  but  that  the 
Democratic  boys  were  gathering  at  his  suggestion,  and 
if  a  row  took  place  we  would  not  have  the  worst  of  it. 

Accordingly,  I  took  the  stand  and  denounced  Collins 
and  the  Whigs  for  their  treatment  of  the  Governor  of 
the  State.  The  Governor  came  out  on  the  balcony  of 
the  hotel  near  by  and  I  apologized  to  him  for  the 
insults  of  Collins  and  his  associates. 

During  my  speech  nothing  very  serious  occurred, 
more  than  a  few  "knock  downs"  and  a  pistol  shot  or 
two.  One  of  the  Whigs  sustained  a  flesh  wound.  This 
incident  made  Governor  Bigler  a  friend  for  life,  and 
afterward,  when  the  Legislature  gave  Attorney-General 
McConnell  leave  of  absence  for  six  months,  the 
Governor  appointed  me  to  fill  the  vacancy. 

During  the  winter  of  1852  and  '53,  while  I  was 
District  Attorney  of  Nevada  County,  I  visited  Sacra 
mento  when  the  Legislature  was  in  session.  Broderick 
and  Gwin  were  rival  candidates  for  the  United  States 
Senate.  A  difficulty  occurred  the  day  I  arrived  in  the  Sen- 


118         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

ate  Chamber  between  Henry  A.  Crabb,  who  afterward 
lost  his  life  leading  a  filibustering  expedition  to  Sonora, 
Mexico,  and  one  of  Broderick's  friends.  Crabb  was 
intensely  anti-Broderick,  and  a  man  of  great  courage 
and  physical  power.  He  or  his  followers  had 
Broderick's  friend  arrested  and  haled  before  a  justice 
of  peace  for  assault  and  battery. 

Broderick  sent  for  me  and  asked  me  as  a  special  favor 
to  appear  in  defense  of  his  friend.  I  did  so,  and 
objected  to  the  jurisdiction  of  the  justice  of  the  peace, 
on  the  ground  that  the  difficulty  occurred  in  the  Senate 
Chamber,  and  that  the  Senator  was  not  subject  to  arrest 
under  the  circumstances.  The  justice  being  inclined  to 
get  rid  of  the  matter  as  easily  as  possible  discharged 
the  defendant. 

When  I  returned  to  the  hotel  where  Broderick  and 
his  friend  were  stopping,  I  learned  for  the  first  time 
that  the  reason  I  was  sent  for  to  defend  his  friend  was 
that  the  lawyers  who  were  of  Broderick's  party,  and 
there  were  quite  a  number  of  them,  feared  the  arrest 
was  for  the  purpose  of  doing  violence  to  Broderick's 
friends,  and  that  I  might  have  had  a  rough  time  of 
it.  But  not  anticipating  any  difficulty,  and  not  knowing 
that  anybody  else  supposed  there  would  be  trouble,  I 
had  no  concern  and  the  matter  passed  off  without  even 
angry  words. 

Broderick  invited  me  into  his  room,  and  we  had  a 
conversation  which  lasted  nearly  two  hours.  I  was 
perfectly  charmed  with  him,  for  he  was  certainly  the 
most  remarkable  man  I  had  ever  met.  He  told  me  of 
his  history  and  his  aspirations.  He  was  the  son  of  an 
Irish  mechanic  who,  when  he  emigrated  from  his 
native  land,  settled  in  Washington,  D.  C.,  and  was  em 
ployed  for  many  years  in  the  construction  of  the 
National  Capitol.  Broderick,  when  very  young,  went 
to  New  York  City,  where  he  labored  for  a  living.  He 
soon  joined  a  fire  company  and  became  a  leader  in 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        119 

Tammany.  When  gold  was  discovered  in  California, 
he  with  many  of  his  New  York  associates  went  to  San 
Francisco.  They  were  the  controlling  force  of  that  city, 
and  Broderick  was  elected  to  the  Senate  of  the  first 
Legislature  which  met  in  the  State. 

The  opportunities  for  acquiring  wealth  were  abun 
dant  in  San  Francisco  at  that  time;  real  estate  could  be 
had  by  those  who  would  take  it.  Broderick  became 
rich,  but  used  most  of  his  fortune  in  politics.  The 
struggle  between  the  Gwin  and  Broderick  forces  for 
political  supremacy  in  the  State  was  bitter  and  vindictive. 
At  that  time  it  was  thought  necessary  for  each  House 
of  the  Legislature  to  pass  a  resolution  to  go  into  joint 
convention  to  elect  a  United  States  Senator.  It  so 
happened  that  neither  faction  could  get  a  majority  of 
both  Houses.  When  Gwin  would  have  a  majority 
of  the  Legislature  on  a  joint  ballot,  the  Broderick  men 
would  not  go  into  joint  convention;  and  when  Broderick 
would  have  a  majority,  the  Gwin  men  would  balk. 
The  result  was  that  the  State  was  not  represented  in  the 
United  States  Senate  for  several  terms.  \ 

This  evil  was  not  remedied  until  1866,  after  I  was 
elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  and  became  a  mem 
ber  of  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  when  the  law  was 
then  passed  which  authorized  a  joint  convention  whether 
the  two  Houses  agreed  to  it  or  not. 

During  the  summer,  while  I  was  acting  as  Attorney- 
General  of  California,  I  had  a  room  near  the  room  of 
Mr.  Broderick,  and  as  we  were  both  early  risers,  nearly 
every  morning  about  daylight  we  started  on  a  long  walk 
before  breakfast.  On  leaving  our  rooms  we  passed  a 
shooting-gallery,  kept  by  a  Mr.  Taylor,  who  was  known 
as  "Natchez."  We  frequently  went  in  there  to  practice, 
because  at  that  hour  of  the  day  we  could  do  so  in 
private.  Mr.  Broderick  was  the  best  shot  I  ever  saw  if 
allowed  to  use  his  own  pistol.  There  was  some  defect 
in  his  forefinger  which  prevented  his  feeling  the  trigger 


120        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

of  the  pistol  until  he  pressed  it  hard.  A  hair-trigger 
pistol  would  invariably  go  off  before  he  was  conscious 
of  having  touched  it.  Taylor  labored  very  hard  to 
teach  him  to  use  a  hair-trigger  pistol.  He  would  fre 
quently  stand  us  side  by  side  with  our  backs  to  the  target 
and  give  the  word  for  us  to  fire.  I  could  always  beat 
Broderick  in  such  exercises;  but  when  he  had  his  own 
pistol  and  I  had  mine,  he  was  the  better  shot.  He  would 
place  his  elbow  against  his  side,  raise  his  hand  with  the 
pistol  in  it  mechanically,  and  almost  without  an  excep 
tion  hit  the  bull's  eye.  Taylor  told  me  many  times  to 
use  my  influence  to  prevent  Broderick  from  fighting  a 
duel,  as  he  was  no  match  for  a  man  who  could  use  a 
hair-trigger.  He  said  the  fact  that  Broderick's  life  had 
once  been  saved  by  accident  would  make  him  accept  a 
challenge,  and  if  he  did  so  he  was  almost  sure  to  be  killed. 
I  knew  of  his  duel  with  Judge  Smith,  the  son  of 
"Extra  Billy"  Smith  of  Virginia,  when  he  received  the 
bullet  of  his  opponent  in  his  watch,  which  was  directly 
over  his  heart.  This  led  him  to  think  he  had  a  charmed 
life. 

He  was  elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  in  1857, 
and  was  radically  opposed  to  the  extension  of  slavery. 
His  strong  character  and  indomitable  will  marked  him 
a  leader  at  once.  He  canvassed  Qalifornia  in  opposition 
to  the  party  who  favored  the  Lacompton  Constitution 
and  the  extension  of  slavery  into  Kansas  and  Nebraska, 
and  he  developed  a  capacity  for  earnest  oratory  in  that 
canvass  which  nobody  supposed  he  possessed.  After 
the  canvass  was  over  he  was  dining  at  a  restaurant  in 
San  Francisco  andH&i  W.  Perley,  a  pugnacious  little 
^»  vCJanadian,  was  sitting  at  the  table  near  him.  Perley  was 
not  happy  unless  he  could  start  a  personal  difficulty. 
He  commenced  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Broderick  in 
regard  to  Judge  David  S.  Terry,  a  Kentuckian,  who  had 
been  on  the  Supreme  Court  bench  of  California,  and 
was  one  of  the  most  prominent  men  in  the  State. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        121 

There  was  no  particular  animosity  between  Terry  and 
Broderick;  they  simply  belonged  to  different  political 
wings  of  the  same  party.  But  Perley  irritated  Broderick 
and  induced  him  to  make  some  very  harsh  remarks  with 
regard  to  Terry.  Perley  reported  his  version  of  the 
conversation  to  Terry,  who  accordingly  challenged 
Broderick,  September  13,  1859.  They  fought  with 
hair-trigger  pistols  in  a  secluded  place  near  San  Fran 
cisco.  Broderick's  pistol  went  off  prematurely,  and  the 
bullet  struck  the  ground  before  it  reached  Terry. 
Terry's  shot  was  fatal  and  Broderick  died  three  days 
later. 

The  spirit  of  adventure  was  strong  in  California  in 
those  days.  Men  were  money  mad,  and  some  of  them, 
finding  the  search  for  the  precious  metals  too  slow, 
organized  filibustering  expeditions  into  Mexico.  Stories 
were  told  of  mythical  mines  there  so  rich  that  the  Apache 
Indians  moulded  bullets  for  their  guns  from  gold  nug 
gets.  The  restless  gambling  instinct  made  men  reck 
less,  thirsting  for  excitement. 

Crabb,  then  a  member  of  the  State  Senate,  was  a 
Mississippian,  an  impetuous,  hot-headed  Southerner, 
and  an  able  lawyer.  He  was  proclaimed  general  by  a 
band  of  adventurous  followers,  and  in  1857  set  out 
with  an  advance  body  of  one  hundred  men,  by  way  of 
Yuma,  on  a  raid  into  Mexico.  The  main  body  of 
filibustered  was  to  follow  by  sea  to  Libertad,  and  the 
two  parties  were  to  meet  in  Sonora. 

The  combined  forces  comprised  about  four  hundred 
men.  Crabb  had  an  arrangement  with  an  aspirant  for 
Governor  of  the  State  of  Sonora  to  assist  him  in  his 
election,  in  consideration  of  which  Sonora  was  to  rebel 
against  Mexico  and  become  an  independent  State,  to 
be  subsequently  annexed  to  the  United  States. 

Crabb's  party  arrived  safely  at  Sonora,  but  the  rein 
forcements  he  had  expected  failed  to  arrive.  The 
California  authorities  had  refused  to  permit  them  to 


122        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

leave  San  Francisco.  The  Mexican  Governor  betrayed 
Crabb,  and  when  he  advanced  to  Caborca  to  meet  the 
other  Americans,  the  Mexicans  surrounded  him  in  over 
whelming  force  and  he  had  to  surrender.  Fifty-nine 
prisoners  were  shot,  and  a  rear-guard  escaped  only 
after  being  badly  cut  to  pieces.  A  relief  party  from 
Tucson  turned  back,  unable  to  save  their  fellow 
countrymen. 


CHAPTER  XIII 

Discovery  of  the  Comstock — Rush  to  the  new  diggings — Outrages 
by  the  Indians — Piute  war — An  ambush  in  a  canyon — A  volunteer 
army  and  a  treaty  of  peace — California  admitted  to  the  Union — 
Origin  of  mining  laws. 

In  the  fall  of  1859  the  Comstock  lode  was  discovered 
in  a  mountain  range  about  thirty  miles  east  of  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountains,  in  Utah;  and  some  ore  was  taken 
from  it  to  Grass  Valley,  Nevada  County,  California, 
where  it  was  assayed  and  found  to  be  rich  in  gold  and 
enormously  rich  in  silver.  This  created  the  usual 
excitement.  With  many  others,  I  made  a  visit  to  the 
new  diggings  and  was  strongly  impressed  with  the 
magnitude  of  the  discovery.  It  was  then  late  in  the 
fall  and  the  winter  was  stormy.  I  resolved  to  move 
to  the  Comstock  in  the  spring,  and  I  returned  to  my 
home  in  Downieville  for  the  winter.  I  went  back  to 
the  Comstock  in  March  while  the  snow  was  very  deep 
on  the  mountains. 

When  I  arrived  there  I  met  an  old  acquaintance, 
Henry  Meredith,  from  Virginia,  whom  I  knew  to  be 
a  good  lawyer,  having  practiced  with  him  before,  and 
we  formed  a  partnership  and  commenced  building  an 
office  of  stone. 

The  day  after  the  partnership  was  formed  I  went 
down  to  Carson,  then  a  village,  now  the  capital  of  the 
State,  to  look  over  the  general  situation,  and  I  learned 
there  that  Major  Ormsby  had  gone  with  a  party  of 
men  to  Williams's  Ranch  on  account  of  the  depredations 
committed  there  by  Indians ;  two  ranchmen  by  the  name 
of  Williams  having  been  killed.  On  my  arrival  at 
Virginia  City  a  company  was  forming  to  join  the  Major. 
My  partner,  Henry  Meredith,  was  there,  mounted  on 
a  horse,  and  appeared  to  be  the  leader  of  the  expedition. 


124         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

A  large  portion  of  the  party  who  were  preparing  to 
go  with  him  were  known  on  the  frontier  as  fighters  and 
toughs.  I  begged  him  not  to  go  with  such  a  disor 
ganized  company,  told  him  they  had  no  discipline,  would 
not  obey  orders,  and  that  fighting  with  the  Indians 
would  be  disastrous.  He  promised  me  that  he  would 
go  no  farther  than  Williams's  Ranch. 

Instead,  he  joined  about  one  hundred  men  who  got 
together  at  Williams's  Ranch,  and  marched  across  the 
desert  from  the  Carson  River  to  the  Truckee  River, 
following  the  trail  of  the  Indians.  They  struck  the 
Truckee  just  below  where  the  railroad  at  one  time 
crossed  it  at  Wadsworth,  and  followed  down  the  stream. 
When  they  went  into  the  canyon  below  Wadsworth,  the 
Indians,  having  laid  in  ambush,  attacked  them  and  killed 
about  eighty  of  them.  Not  more  than  fifteen  or  twenty 
escaped.  Meredith  and  many  other  splendid  men  were 
among  the  slain. 

After  Meredith  left,  and  before  I  had  heard  of  the 
battle,  I  went  over  to  Downieville,  intending  to  get  back 
in  a  very  few  days.  I  rode  my  mule  through  Truckee 
Valley,  following  the  trail  on  which  we  came  over,  and 
was  about  a  day  and  a  half  making  the  trip  to  Downie 
ville.  About  five  miles  before  I  reached  that  town 
I  met  a  party  of  friends  on  their  way  to  hunt  me  and 
rescue  me  if  possible  from  the  savages.  I  then  learned 
of  the  massacre.  There  was  great  rejoicing  when  I 
arrived  safely  at  Downieville. 

The  next  day  I  returned  to  Virginia  City,  but  avoided 
exposure  in  the  Truckee  Valley  by  circuiting  the  hills. 
A  volunteer  army  was  then  being  raised  to  which  I 
contributed  a  thousand  dollars,  and  other  settlers 
and  miners  also  aided  liberally.  At  the  same  time 
Jack  Hayes  was  on  his  way  from  California  by  the 
Placerville  route  with  a  few  volunteers,  and  Captain 
Stewart  of  the  Regular  Army  was  en  route  with 
about  a  hundred  Federal  soldiers.  It  was  almost 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         125 

impossible  to  get  freight  from  California,  so  the  people 
of  Nevada  Territory  supplied  the  soldiers  the  best  they 
could.  The  Government  of  the  United  States  has  paid 
the  people  for  part  of  the  supplies  they  furnished. 
Some  of  the  largest  contributors,  including  myself,  pre 
sented  no  claim.  The  claims  in  Congress  were 
known  as  the  Piute  Claims,  and  later  I  secured 
their  payment. 

I  did  not  go  out  with  the  soldiers,  because  it  was 
thought  more  important  for  me  and  two  or  three  others 
to  collect  and  forward  supplies  to  the  army. 

The  little  army  finally  overtook  the  Indians  in  the 
mountains  near  the  Truckee  River,  but  the  latter,  realiz 
ing  that  the  whites  had  a  superior  force,  did  not  give 
regular  battle,  but  skirmished  about  in  the  hills,  killing 
a  few  of  our  men.  A  treaty  of  peace  was  speedily  made 
which  ended  the  war  forever,  for  the  white  population 
grew  so  rapidly  the  Indians  saw  it  would  be  hopeless 
to  continue  opposition. 

One  young  man  by  the  name  of  Storey,  who  was 
acting  as  captain,  was  killed,  and  Storey  County  was 
named  after  him;  and  Ormsby  County  was  named  after 
Major  Ormsby,  who  fell  in  the  Indian  war. 

The  rules  and  regulations  governing  mining  were 
inherited  from  California.  California  never  had  a 
territorial  government;  the  military  arm  of  the  United 
States  maintained  order  until  the  people  established  a 
State  government.  Spanish  land  grants  covered  a  large 
portion  of  the  fertile  valleys  of  the  State,  and  these 
were  in  litigation  for  many  years.  The  mineral  lands 
were  excluded  from  survey.  They  included  the  area 
between  the  foot-hills  of  the  Sierra  Nevadas  on  the  west 
and  the  plains  of  Kansas,  Nebraska,  and  the  Dakotas 
on  the  east. 

California  was  admitted  near  the  end  of  the  long 
session  of  Congress  in  1850.  Gwin  and  John  C.  Fre 
mont  were  the  first  Senators.  Fremont  introduced  a 


126         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

bill  providing  for  a  tax  or  royalty  on  working  the  mines 
u  sufficient  to  pay  the  administrative  expenses. 

Senator  Benton  opposed  any  legislation  with  regard 
to  the  mines  until  sufficient  time  had  elapsed  to  disclose 
the  real  situation.  In  other  words,  he  maintained  that 
it  was  best  to  leave  the  miners  to  their  own  devices. 
Senator  Seward  and  some  others  took  the  same  view  of 
the  situation.  The  result  was  non-action  by  the  General 
Government. 

The  first  immigrants  to  California  were  from  the 
Vy  more  substantial  families  of  every  State.  They  gener 
ally  ranged  in  age  from  eighteen  to  twenty-five  years ;  a 
man  of  thirty  was  regarded  as  quite  old.  These  young 
men  formed  rules  and  regulations  on  the  bars  and 
diggings  where  they  mined;  and  miners'  meetings 
determined  the  boundaries  of  the  district  and  made  rules 
fixing  the  size  of  the  claims,  amount  of  work  necessary 
to  hold  them,  and  such  other  regulations  as  the  circum 
stances  required. 

Although  these  miners'  meetings  acted  independently 
of  each  other  in  the  mineral  belt  of  California  extending 
about  500  miles  north  and  south,  varying  in  width  from 
twenty  to  fifty  miles,  the  regulations  in  the  various 
localities  were  so  similar  in  character  as  to  form  a  system 
of  general  laws. 

Stephen  J.  Field,  afterward  Associate  Justice  of  the 

«  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for  nearly  a  third 
of  a  century,  was  a  member  of  the  first  Legislature,  and 
offered  an  amendment  to  the  Practice  Act  which  was 
adopted,  providing  that  in  actions  respecting  mining 
claims  the  rules  and  regulations  established  and  in  force 
on  the  bars  or  diggings  might  be  offered  in  evidence, 
and  when  not  in  conflict  with  the  laws  of  the  United 
States,  or  the  State  of  California,  should  govern  the 
decision  of  the  action. 

As  gold  and  silver  mining  spread  throughout  the  vast 
interior  mountain  region  between  the  valleys  of  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        127 

Pacific  on  the  west  and  the  Missouri  on  the  east,  the 
miners  continued  to  make  their  own  regulations,  and 
the  courts  of  all  the  States  and  Territories  where  mines 
existed  on  the  public  domain  enforced  the  laws  which 
the  miners  made. 

The  first  mining  was  along  the  bars  of  the  streams, 
which  were  divided  into  small  claims.  The  rivers  were 
also  divided  into  sections,  and  the  waters  diverted 
through  flumes  constructed  by  the  miners  by  the  use  of 
whip-saws.  Thus,  great  rivers  were  turned  out  of  their 
beds  and  carried  for  miles  while  the  energetic  youths 
mined  beneath  them.  Later  on  it  was  ascertained  that 
the  hills  contained  gravel  beds  and  that  a  great  ore  chan 
nel  extended  for  more  than  two  hundred  miles  across  the 
ridges  at  an  elevation  of  from  3,000  to  4,000  feet  above 
the  level  of  the  sea.  In  this  great  ore  channel  trees 
and  flood  wood  were  found  petrified,  and  other  evidence 
existed  that  there  had  once  been  a  mighty  river  running 
from  the  north  to  the  south  before  the  great  canyons 
from  the  mountains  to  the  valleys  were  created. 

As  these  new  situations  were  discovered,  the  miners 
made  laws  applicable  to  each  case  presented  for  their 
consideration.  I  had  the  honor  to  attend  the  first 
miners'  meeting  called  to  consider  the  vein,  or  lode, 
claims. 

About  Nevada  City,  California,  there  were  quite  a 
number  of  small  quartz  veins  sufficiently  rich  at  the 
surface  to  enable  the  miners  to  make  wages  by  beating 
up  the  rock  with  mortar  and  pestle.  The  meeting 
appointed  a  committee,  of  which  I  was  chairman,  to 
draft  resolutions  describing  quartz  claims.  I  reported 
from  the  committee  resolutions  providing  that  a  vein 
or  lode  claim  should  consist  of  200  feet  in  length  along 
the  vein  or  lode,  with  all  its  dips,  spurs  and  angles. 

This  description  of  a  vein  or  lode  was  adopted 
throughout  the  State  of  California,  and  all  the  mining 
States  and  Territories,  as  rapidly  as  vein  or  lode  claims 
were  discovered. 


128        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

From  1852  to  1860,  except  a  short  period  while  I 
performed  the  duties  of  Attorney-General,  I  took  a 
very  active  part  in  the  practice  of  mining  law,  which  was 
the  principal  and  most  lucrative  practice  in  the  State  of 
California. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

Comstock  lode  fortified — Trouble  brewing — I  get  the  drop  on  a 
"bad  man" — A  desperado  who  killed  sixteen  men  in  one  winter — 
A  brave  Dutchman — The  terror  of  the  camp — Rival  judges  and 
mixed  justice. 

When  I  arrived  at  Virginia  City  in  March,  1860,  I 
found  a  large  number  of  people  living  there  in  tents, 
behind  rocks,  in  holes  in  the  ground,  and  in  every  possi 
ble  way  they  could  devise  to  protect  themselves  from 
the  prevailing  inclement  winds. 

Judge  Terry  reached  Virginia  City  two  days  before 
I  did  with  a  party  of  Southern  gentlemen  from  Cala- 
veras  County,  California.  He  selected  three  prominent 
points  on  the  Comstock  lode  and  caused  forts  to  be 
erected.  He  declared  even  at  that  early  day  that  there 
would  be  a  separation  of  the  Union,  that  Nevada  would 
be  a  part  of  the  Southern  Confederacy,  and  that 
whoever  was  in  possession  of  the  mines  would  be 
allowed  to  hold  them. 

What  is  now  Nevada  was  then  a  part  of  Utah.  The 
people  of  California  knew  little  of  Utah  laws,  distrusted 
everything  connected  with  Utah,  and  consequently 
organized  corporations  in  California  to  work  the  mines. 
Nearly  all  of  the  corporations  owning  claims  on  the 
Comstock  vein  employed  me  as  their  counsel,  and  were 
very  urgent  in  their  desire  to  drive  Terry's  men  from 
their  forts. 

In  a  few  days  I  was  satisfied  that  it  would  be  a  very 
foolish  thing  to  interfere  with  Terry  as  matters  then 
stood.  The  foot-wall  of  the  Comstock  was  very  dis 
tinct;  it  required  very  little  development  to  determine 
what  or  where  it  was.  It  was  located  on  Mount 
Davidson,  a  huge  granite  mountain,  and  pitched  to  the 
east  at  an  angle  of  about  40  degrees,  and  the  lines  of 


130         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

croppings  consisting  of  what  was  then  known  as  the 
Comstock  were  prominent  and  very  rich. 

The  Ophir,  Gould  and  Curry,  and  Gold  Hill  were 
the  most  conspicuous  of  these  valuable  blow-outs  or 
croppings.  About  500  feet  west  of  these  croppings, 
known  as  the  Comstock,  there  was  a  barren  vein  lying 
on  the  foot-wall.  It  was  known  as  the  old  Virginia 
lead.  The  Comstock  and  all  the  vein  locations  were 
described  as  300  feet  along  the  vein  with  all  its  dips, 
spurs,  and  angles.  This  vein  was  very  different  from 
the  models  the  miners  of  Nevada  had  before  them 
when  that  mode  of  describing  a  vein  mine  was 
adopted. 

There  were  a  large  number  of  Comstock  claims  along 
the  line.  Their  names  were  the  Sierra  Nevada,  the 
Ophir,  the  Mexican,  the  Middle  Lead,  the  Gould  and 
Curry,  the  Savage,  the  Chollar,  Gold  Hill  (subdivided 
into  several  claims),  the  Yellow  Jacket,  Crown  Point, 
Belcher  and  Overman,  extending  a  distance  of  nearly 
two  miles.  The  number  of  feet  claimed  by  these  com 
panies  was  nearly  twice  as  much  as  existed  on  the  Com 
stock.  In  other  words,  claims  on  the  Comstock  lode 
lapped  over  each  other  throughout  the  entire  length  of 
the  vein,  and  it  had  not  been  determined  what  direction 
they  extended  underground. 

I  went  to  San  Francisco  and  told  the  companies  that 
I  wanted  to  see  them  altogether  and  explain  the  situa 
tion.  I  informed  them  there  was  no  known  hanging 
wall,  that  the  foot-wall  was  at  the  Virginia  croppings, 
that  the  foot-wall  pitched  east  about  40  degrees,  that  the 
Comstock  locations  were  all  in  conflict  with  each  other; 
and  that  it  was  not  worth  while  to  meddle  with  Terry 
until  they  had  their  own  dispute  settled. 

They  said  they  were  all  friends  and  had  no  dispute. 
I  said,  "As  soon  as  you  commence  mining  you  will  find 
you  are  all  enemies  and  will  become  involved  in  litiga 
tion  with  each  other." 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        131 

Finally,  each  company  appointed  an  agent  with  full 
power  to  settle  its  end  lines,  and  we  proceeded  to 
Virginia  City  with  a  corps  of  engineers  and  definitely 
settled  all  disputes  between  the  companies  themselves 
and  established  end  lines  between  which  they  might 
follow  the  veins. 

When  this  was  accomplished  they  suggested  that  it 
was  time  to  put  Terry  off.  I  told  them  not  yet,  that 
they  must  leave  him  alone  until  they  bought  the  Virginia 
lead  and  divided  that  among  the  claims  according  to 
their  various  holdings  so  they  would  extend  to  the  foot- 
walls.  They  did  that  reluctantly. 

My  clients  then  wanted  to  litigate,  and  about  that 
time  Judge  Cradlebaugh,  who  was  one  of  Utah's  judges, 
assigned  to  the  western  district  of  that  territory, 
appeared.  Just  at  that  time  President  Buchanan 
removed  him  and  appointed  Judge  Flenniken  in  his 
place.  Flenniken  did  not  arrive  until  late  in  the  fall 
of  1860,  Cradlebaugh  claiming  to  be  judge  because  he 
maintained  that  the  President  had  no  right  to  remove 
a  Territorial  judge.  Some  doubt  had  been  thrown  over 
this  question  by  the  language  of  the  Utah  Act,  and  on 
account  of  the  opinion  rendered  by  Justice  John  McLean 
of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

During  the  lull  in  litigation  with  regard  to  the  trial 
of  cases  before  Judge  Cradlebaugh  some  miners  asked 
me  to  assist  them  in  friendly  arbitration  in  a  dispute 
which  arose  among  them  about  claims  near  the  Devil's 
Gate  in  the  road  down  the  canyon. 

We  went  on  the  ground  and  then  retired  to  the 
Devil's  Gate  Toll  House,  which  was  a  stone  building 
about  10  by  15  feet.  It  was  divided  into  two  rooms. 
There  was  a  door  into  the  principal  room  from  the 
street  where  toll  was  collected,  and  a  bar  extended  the 
length  of  the  room.  Next  to  the  bar  was  a  small  door 
into  a  room  five  or  six  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  long.  We 
went  in  there  to  avoid  an  unpleasant  wind  prevailing 


132        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

that  day,  chose  three  arbitrators,  and  called  in  a  Utah 
justice  of  the  peace  to  swear  the  witnesses. 

I  was  sitting  with  my  back  against  the  wall  near  the 
door  which  opened  into  the  barroom.  I  had  on  a  very 
thin  overcoat  with  large  side  pockets  in  which  I  had 
two  Texas  derringers  which  carried  ounce  balls.  They 
were  the  only  safe  warlike  implements  at  close  range 
except  a  knife.  Pistols  carrying  a  small  ball  might  kill 
an  antagonist,  but  before  his  death  he  could  continue 
to  use  a  knife  or  a  gun,  unless  he  was  accidentally  shot 
through  the  heart;  but  a  derringer  ball  hitting  a  man 
anywhere  would  knock  him  down  and  stupefy  him  so 
that  he  could  not  instantly  continue  the  fight. 

I  heard  the  clattering  of  Mexican  spurs  that  made 
considerable  noise  at  the  door  of  the  barroom.  A  voice 
said,  "How  are  you,  Brown?"  I  instantly  made  up  my 
mind  that  it  was  Sam  Brown,  a  notorious  character  who 
had  killed  sixteen  men  during  the  preceding  winter. 
The  Utah  officers  dared  not  attempt  to  arrest  him,  and 
he  had  everything  his  own  way.  I  knew  very  well  if 
we  met  in  that  small  room  some  of  us  would  be  killed, 
so  I  cocked  my  two  pistols,  pointed  them  at  the  door, 
and  when  he  came  in  held  them  aimed  at  his  breast. 

Without  noticing  me  he  swaggered  in,  raised  his 
hand,  and  said,  "Swear  me."  I  called  out  to  the  justice, 
"Swear  the  witness!"  which  he  timidly  did.  I  then 
inquired  what  he  had  to  say  and  what  he  knew  about 
the  case.  He  claimed  some  interest  in  the  ground. 
After  he  had  testified  he  went  out.  The  referees  went 
into  the  other  room  and  I  followed  behind  the  balance 
of  those  present. 

As  I  confronted  Brown,  who  stood  facing  the  door 
with  his  elbow  on  the  bar,  I  continued  to  hold  my  pistols 
in  front  of  him,  supposing  he  would  attack  me  when  I 
came  out.  Although  he  barred  the  way,  using  profane 
language,  he  said  he  liked  my  kind,  and  asked  me  if  I 
would  take  a  drink  with  him.  We  touched  glasses  and 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        133 

parted  friends.  The  next  day  he  called  on  me  at  Carson 
and  wanted  to  employ  me  in  a  lawsuit  he  expected  to 
have  at  Aurora  where  rich  mines  had  been  discovered, 
and  which  is  now  in  Esmeralda  County.  He  said  he 
believed  that  he  and  I  could  get  justice  in  a  mining 
camp.  I  told  him  he  was  right,  I  thought  we  could. 
He  said  he  would  be  back  in  a  few  days  and  would  give 
me  a  good  retainer. 

He  left  about  ten  o'clock  and  went  up  the  valley, 
which  was  then  the  road  to  California,  to  a  station 
known  as  Van  Sickles.  He  called  there  for  his  dinner; 
the  waiter  did  not  serve  it  to  suit  him  and  Brown 
knocked  him  down  with  his  pistol. 

Van  Sickles  was  a  Dutchman,  a  very  mild-mannered 
man,  but  he  told  Brown  that  he  ought  not  to  do  that. 
Then  Brown  drew  his  pistol  and  went  after  him.  Van 
Sickles  ran  behind  a  pile  of  rocks  and  got  away.  Brown 
went  out,  got  on  his  horse  and  started  on  his  journey  up 
the  valley  toward  Aurora.  Van  Sickles  loaded  a  shot 
gun  with  balls  and  started  after  him  on  a  fast  pony, 
remaining  far  enough  behind  so  that  Brown  could  not 
see  who  it  was.  The  road  forked  near  the  station  where 
Brown  would  evidently  stop  for  the  night,  and  when 
Van  Sickles  saw  him  take  one,  he  took  the  other  and 
got  into  the  barn  which  had  an  open  door  where 
travelers  could  ride  in,  and  stood  at  the  side  of  the  door. 
Brown  had  not  observed  him,  and  when  he  rode  in  Van 
Sickles  jammed  the  muzzle  of  his  gun  against  his 
breast  and  said,  "Now  I  kills  you!  and  fired  both  bar 
rels.  The  desperado  fell  dead. 

There  was  great  rejoicing  in  the  whole  country  over 
the  act  of  Van  Sickles,  and  as  a  reward  he  was  elected 
Sheriff  of  Douglas  County  as  soon  as  the  county  was 
organized. 

As  for  myself,  I  do  not  relate  this  story  with  a  view 
of  boasting  of  my  courage,  for  I  must  admit  that  I  was 
very  badly  scared  when  Brown  made  his  appearance, 


134        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

and  only  behaved  as  I  did  because  I  was  in  a  corner 
and  could  not  help  it. 

In  June,  1860,  Terry  and  myself  met  in  Carson  and 
agreed  that  we  would  recognize  the  authority  of  Judge 
Cradlebaugh  and  try  cases  before  him.  Genoa  was  then 
the  county-seat  of  Carson  County,  which  comprised 
what  is  now  nearly  all  of  Nevada. 

I  had  previously  rented  a  log-cabin  in  Genoa,  which 
is  still  standing  as  a  relic.  It  was  the  first  building  of 
any  kind  in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Nevada.  I  fixed 
up  the  old  log-house  as  my  office,  removed  my  library 
there,  and  when  Cradlebaugh  opened  court  Terry  and 
myself  appeared  on  opposite  sides  of  all  the  cases,  and 
we  had  a  very  lively  term  of  court.  Each  had  about  a 
hundred  armed  men  to  help  him  behave. 

We  tried  several  cases,  only  one  of  which  involved 
the  question  as  to  what  constituted  the  Comstock  lode. 
I  refrained  from  trying  any  cases  against  those  claiming 
the  Comstock  with  the  rival  location. 

There  was  a  claim  located  west  of  the  workings 
separate  lodes  where  I  could  not  find  ore  connecting 
on  the  Ophir  called  the  "Middle  Lead."  I  caused 
a  tunnel  to  be  run  from  the  Ophir  workings 
through  and  into  the  workings  of  the  so-called  Middle 
Lead  and  found  ore  all  the  way,  a  distance  of  about 
thirty  feet.  My  witnesses  had  sworn  that  the  Ophir 
and  the  Middle  Lead  were  one  body  of  ore. 

Terry  introduced  a  large  number  of  witnesses  in 
reply,  who  swore  positively  that  there  was  twenty  feet 
of  granite  between  the  two  claims. 

Not  anticipating  any  such  positive  false  swearing  and 
having  introduced  witnesses  on  the  same  subject,  I  was 
not,  as  a  matter  of  technical  law,  allowed  to  rebut  the 
testimony  on  the  opposite  side,  but  on  the  adjournment 
of  the  court  I  sent  a  surveyor  by  the  name  of  Hatch 
a  distance  of  thirty  miles,  providing  a  relay  of  horses 
at  Carson,  and  again  at  Virginia  City  to  return,  and 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         135 

had  him  take  with  him  ten  men  with  forty  small  sacks, 
instructing  them  to  take  from  the  so-called  vein  which 
the  witnesses  had  sworn  was  solid  granite,  a  specimen 
of  ore  from  each  six  inches.  The  party  returned  with 
the  ore  before  court  opened  the  next  morning. 

I  told  Hatch  that  when  the  jury  was  called  I  would 
occupy  the  attention  of  the  court  for  a  moment.  I  told 
him  to  take  the  sacks  containing  the  ore,  which  were 
marked  where  they  came  from,  and  place  them  before 
the  jury  while  I  was  attracting  the  attention  of  Judge 
Terry  and  the  court. 

When  Judge  Terry  observed  it  he  wanted  to  object 
because  it  was  not  rebuttal;  but  when  he  saw  the  jury 
examining  the  ore,  he  gave  in,  saying  the  trick  was 
so  smart  he  would  let  it  go.  But,  even  with  that  positive 
evidence,  Terry  succeeded  in  hanging  the  jury,  having 
some  of  his  Calaveras  followers  included  in  the  panel. 

Later  R.  P.  Flenniken  arrived,  and  Terry  told  me 
that  he  would  discontinue  our  arrangement  to  try  cases 
before  Judge  Cradlebaugh;  that  he  was  confident  that 
Flenniken  was  the  legal  judge,  and  that  he  should  try 
cases  in  his  court  with  a  marshal  and  clerk;  a  man  by 
the  name  of  Grice  being  his  marshal. 

Cradlebaugh  continued  to  hold  court,  and  tried  the 
criminal  cases.  For  the  purpose  of  testing  the  question 
of  Cradlebaugh's  right  to  continue  in  office,  I  caused  to 
be  appealed  to  the  Supreme  Court  of  Utah,  sitting  at 
Salt  Lake,  a  criminal  case  in  which  the  question  raised 
involved  the  validity  of  Cradlebaugh's  authority. 

Very  little  civil  business  was  done  for  several  months  ; 
but  finally,  in  February,  1861,  Judge  Terry's  clients 
went  upon  a  claim  called  the  St.  Louis,  between  what 
is  known  as  the  Devil's  Gate  and  Silver  City,  on  the 
main  road  to  Virginia  City.  There  was  a  considerable 
quantity  of  rich  ore  on  the  surface  of  the  St.  Louis. 
Terry's  clients  and  associates  had  procured  about  eighty 
old  muskets  which  had  been  brought  over  the  mountains 


136         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

from  California  during  a  recent  Indian  war.  They 
erected  a  fort  and  manned  it  with  about  seventy-five 
men. 

I  brought  suit  and  obtained  an  injunction  in  Cradle- 
baugh's  court,  which  was  served  upon  the  occupants  of 
the  fort.  They  disobeyed  the  injunction  and  continued 
to  work  the  mine.  The  situation  was  embarrassing;  all 
the  arms  available  for  a  battle  were  in  the  hands  of 
the  enemy.  It  was  absolutely  certain  that  if  a  warrant 
was  placed  in  the  hands  of  John  Blackburn,  the  marshal 
of  Cradlebaugh's  court,  he  would  be  resisted  by  the 
armed  forces  in  the  fort.  I  knew  that  Blackburn,  being 
a  desperate  man,  would  make  every  effort  to  serve  the 
warrant,  and  that  the  inevitable  consequence  would  be 
the  shedding  of  blood  to  no  purpose. 

Two  young  men  were  associated  with  me  in  the 
case — Moses  Kirkpatrick,  afterward  a  leading  lawyer 
of  Butte,  Montana;  and  William  F.  Anderson,  who 
became  a  popular  lawyer  in  Idaho.  I  proposed  to  them 
that  we  visit  Flenniken  and  arrange  a  compromise  if 
possible.  Accordingly,  we  called  on  Flenniken  at  his 
chambers  and  told  him  that  we  were  anxious  to  avoid 
bloodshed;  that  Judge  Cradlebaugh's  order  had  been 
disobeyed  by  the  men  in  a  fort  on  the  St.  Louis  mine 
near  Silver  City;  that  if  it  was  agreeable  to  him  we 
would  commence  a  suit  in  his  court,  and  if  our  showing 
was  sufficient  to  satisfy  him  that  an  injunction  ought 
to  be  issued,  we  would  serve  his  injunction  and  make  a 
joint  effort  with  his  marshal  and  the  marshal  of  Judge 
Cradlebaugh  to  enforce  the  orders  of  the  two  courts. 
Flenniken  said  that  would  be  entirely  agreeable  to  him. 

We  further  said  to  him  that  the  controversy  between 
the  two  judges  was  very  injurious  to  the  business  of 
the  Territory  and  ought  to  be  terminated,  and  that 
Judge  Cradlebaugh  had  agreed  to  resign  if  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  Territory  of  Utah  decided  against  him,  or 
if  Lincoln's  Administration,  when  it  should  be  inau- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        137 

gurated,  refused  to  pay  him  his  salary  and  paid  it  to 
Judge  Flenniken.  Flenniken  said  that  would  be  entirely 
satisfactory  to  him,  and  he  would  then  and  there  make 
the  same  agreement  Judge  Cradlebaugh  had. 

We  went  to  my  office,  prepared  the  papers,  and  the 
next  morning  called  on  Flenniken  again  and  asked  him 
to  issue  an  injunction.  He  not  only  refused  to  do  that, 
but  denied  ever  having  had  any  conversation  with  us 
on  the  subject;  and,  in  fact,  he  went  so  far  as  to  deny 
that  we  had  ever  visited  him  at  all. 

While  we  were  studying  what  to  do  next,  early  in 
the  evening  the  Pony  Express  came  in  from  Utah  bring 
ing  the  decision  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  that  Territory 
in  favor  of  the  right  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh  to  hold 
court;  whereupon  Judge  Flenniken  got  out  upon  the 
street  and  publicly  declared  that  he  was  no  longer  judge, 
that  Cradlebaugh  was  judge,  and  that  it  was  the  duty 
of  all  good  citizens  to  obey  his  orders.  I  met  him  in 
the  presence  of  several  gentlemen  and  questioned  him 
personally  to  know  if  he  would  sustain  Judge  Cradle 
baugh.  He  assured  me  that  he  would. 

I  then  got  an  order  for  arrest  for  contempt  for  the 
occupants  of  the  fort  and  placed  it  in  the  hands  of  the 
marshal,  Blackburn,  and  retired  for  the  night.  The 
next  morning,  before  the  sun  was  up,  Kirkpatrick  and 
Anderson  called  at  my  house  and  told  me  that  Judge 
Flenniken  was  on  the  street  claiming  to  be  judge  and 
denying  the  right  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh.  I  belted 
on  my  pistols  and  started  down  town,  seeking  Judge 
Flenniken.  I  met  him  on  the  square,  now  occupied  by 
the  State  House,  in  front  of  Pete  Hopkins's  saloon. 

uGood  morning,"  he  said. 

"Good  morning." 

"What's  the  news?" 

"Bad  news,  indeed,"  I  said.  "They  are  slandering 
you.  They  say  that  you  are  claiming  to  be  judge  and 
defying  the  authority  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh." 


138         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

I  told  him  I  anticipated  that  something  might  go 
wrong  and  had  taken  the  precaution  to  be  deputized  by 
Marshal  Blackburn  to  summon  a  posse  to  assist  in 
executing  the  orders  of  Judge  Cradlebaugh,  and  that  I 
summoned  him  to  carry  a  musket  and  give  the  lie  to 
the  slander  that  he  was  usurping  the  functions  of  Judge 
Cradlebaugh. 

He  stepped  back,  and  I  grabbed  him  by  the  collar 
and  jerked  him  on  to  his  knees,  and  drawing  my  pistol 
told  him  he  would  carry  a  musket  in  front  of  me,  and 
there  was  no  evading  it.  He  raised  his  hands  implor 
ingly,  saying: 

"Is  there  no  way  to  avert  it?" 

"Yes,  if  you  will  do  as  I  say,"  I  replied. 

He  consented  by  not  resisting,  and  I  took  him  by 
the  coat  collar  into  Flyshackef's  store,  which  was 
conducted  by  F.  A.  Tritle,  subsequently  Governor  of 
Arizona.  There  was  a  telegraph  station  in  the  middle 
of  the  floor,  surrounded  by  a  railing.  Pete  Lovell  was 
the  telegraph  operator,  and  was  at  his  post.  I  told 
Tritle  to  write  as  I  dictated.  I  dictated  four  or  fiye 
dispatches  for  Flenniken  to  sign,  which  declared  in 
emphatic  terms  that  he  was  not  judge,  that  Cradlebaugh 
was,  and  his  orders  must  be  obeyed.  I  sent  one  to  Flen- 
niken's  marshal  of  the  court,  one  to  his  clerk,  one  to 
Cradlebaugh's  marshal,  and  several  others  to  prominent 
men  at  Silver  City. 

I  then  had  Lovell  come  outside  the  railing  and  stand 
where  he  could  hear  the  messages  in  reply,  but  not 
where  he  could  touch  the  wires.  News  came  of  consul 
tation  of  all  parties  concerned.  Finally  Lovell  said  the 
forces  under  the  marshal  of  Flenniken's  court  had 
surrendered  and  agreed  to  accompany  Marshal  Black 
burn  to  Carson,  a  distance  of  about  ten  miles.  I 
waited  about  an  hour,  when  it  was  announced  that 
Marshal  Blackburn  and  his  prisoners  were  within  four 
miles  of  Carson,  and  then  had  Judge  Cradlebaugh  open 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         139 

court.  As  the  prisoners  were  led  in  I  moved  their 
discharge  on  the  ground  that  they  had  been  misled  by 
a  usurper  by  the  name  of  Flenniken,  who  falsely 
pretended  to  be  the  judge ;  that  they  were  good  citizens, 
but  they  had  defied  the  authority  of  the  court  under  a 
mistake,  and  that  I  hoped  they  would  be  allowed  to 
depart  without  punishment.  Accordingly,  Judge  Cradle- 
baugh,  acting  on  my  motion,  discharged  the  prisoners. 

Joe  Vaughn  was  a  partner  of  Judge  Terry,  and  was 
managing  the  business  while  Judge  Terry  was  in  San 
Francisco.  He  came  to  me  and  requested  the  privilege 
of  seeing  the  original  dispatches  signed  by  Flenniken. 
I  took  him  to  the  telegraph  office.  He  read  them  and 
was  satisfied  that  they  were  genuine. 

The  next  day  Judge  Terry  arrived.  Everybody 
supposed  that  he  would  be  very  indiaiant  and  that 
something  sensational  might  occur.  On  the  contrary, 
the  Judge  came  to  my  office,  saluted  me  good-naturedly 
as  usual,  and  said  that  I  had  taught  him  and  his  party 
a  very  valuable  lesson,  never  to  go  to  war  unless  you 
have  your  general  in  your  own  camp.  "You  had  both 
generals  in  your  camp  and  you  won  the  victory,"  he 
said. 

Judge  Terry  left  that  evening,  and  proceeded 
immediately  to  the  Confederate  Army,  in  which  he 
fought  bravely  until  the  end  of  the  war. 


CHAPTER  XV 

Making  Nevada  a  Territory — I  help  to  locate  the  Capital — The  great 
flood  of  1861 — I  lose  my  fortune  in  a  night — Frightful  journey  on 
foot  to  San  Francisco  in  blizzard — Borrow  $30,000  and  get  a 
new  start — Half  a  million  in  fees  in  one  case. 

In  March,  1861,  Congress  passed  an  Act  making 
western  Utah  a  Territory,  and  naming  it  the  Territory 
of  Nevada.  James  W.  Nye  was  appointed  Governor, 
George  Turner,  Chief  Justice;  Horatio  M.  Jones  and 
Gordon  N.  Mott,  Associate  Justices. 

The  Governor,  as  directed  by  the  Territorial  Act, 
divided  the  Territory  into  districts  for  election  purposes, 
and  called  the  election  for  members  of  the  Territorial 
Legislature.  The  Legislature  sat  in  the  fall  of  1861 
and  passed  a  complete  code  of  laws,  civil  and  criminal, 
dividing  the  Territory  into  counties  and  judicial 
districts. 

At  the  time  the  Legislature  was  about  to  convene 
there  was  a  sharp  contest  between  Carson  and  Virginia 
City  for  the  location  of  the  capital.  My  family  resided 
at  Carson,  but  I  practiced  more  often  at  Virginia  City. 
Previous  to  the  bringing  in  of  water  from  the  Sierra 
Nevada  Mountains,  Virginia  City  was  very  unhealthy 
on  account  of  the  bad  water;  consequently  I  made 
Carson  my  place  of  residence.  There  was  a  lively 
contest  in  Carson  for  the  member  of  the  council,  corre 
sponding  to  the  State  Senator  in  organized  States. 

A  committee  inquired  of  me  the  morning  before  the 
election  where  I  thought  the  capital  ought  to  be,  and 
I  told  them  by  all  means  at  Carson,  where  the  climate 
was  excellent,  the  water  good,  which  would  make  it  a 
permanent  town;  whereas  Virginia  City  was  a  mining 
town  and  not  a  suitable  place  for  the  capital.  They  did 
not  disclose  the  purpose  of  asking  me  this  question.  I 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        141 

remained  in  Virginia  City  until  after  the  election,  and 
when  the  votes  were  counted  I  had  more  than  two-thirds 
of  them.  There  was  nothing  for  me  to  do  but  to  serve. 

Knowing  that  I  had  been  elected  for  the  purpose  of 
locating  the  capital  at  Carson,  I  remained  at  home 
during  the  time  the  members  of  the  Legislature  were 
coming  in  from  different  parts  of  the  Territory.  I 
inquired  of  each  how  he  wanted  his  county  bounded  and 
where  he  wanted  the  county-seat.  Each  one  told  me, 
and  I  framed  a  bill  dividing  the  Territory  into  counties 
and  making  Carson  the  capital. 

Virginia  City  lacked  a  few  votes  of  half  the  Legis 
lature.  A  large  delegation  came  down,  confident  that 
they  would  locate  the  capital  at  Virginia  City.  All 
the  counties  were  arranged  to  suit  the  members  outside 
of  Virginia  City,  and  it  was  understood  that  any 
change  in  the  programme  would  be  disastrous  to  them 
in  arranging  their  county  boundaries.  The  Virginia 
delegation  debated  the  question  in  a  very  enthusiastic 
manner,  but  we  on  the  outside  kept  quiet  until  the  vote 
was  reached,  when  our  programme  was  carried  by  three 
votes,  the  number  that  we  anticipated. 

I  am  sorry  that  I  was  forced  to  make  so  grave  a 
'mistake  in  arranging  the  programme,  but  I  was  com 
pelled  to  take  the  course  I  did  in  order  to  make  Carson 
the  capital.  The  four  counties  of  Ormsby,  Storey, 
Lyons,  and  Douglas  are  so  near  together  that  a  horse 
and  buggy  can  be  driven  to  each  of  the  four  county-seats 
in  half  a  day,  and  the  expense  of  carrying  on  so  many 
county  governments  is  a  great  burden  upon  the  people 
and  upon  the  State.  It  is  hoped  that  the  time  may  come 
when  the  people  themselves  will  arrange  the  counties 
and  the  county  boundaries  in  spite  of  the  official  cliques 
that  live  about  the  court-houses. 

During  the  organization  of  the  new  Territory,  which 
occupied  about  six  months,  there  was  a  lull  in  litigation, 
but  mining  was  actively  pursued.  I  was  quite  successful 


142        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

during  that  time  in  my  mining  operations.  With  two 
associates,  Morgan  and  Henning,  I  acquired  a  valuable 
mine  on  Gold  Hill,  built  a  quartz  mill  on  Carson  River, 
constructed  a  road  to  it,  bought  eight  teams  of  six  mules 
each  to  haul  ore,  purchased  and  had  delivered  at  the 
mill  over  a  hundred  tons  of  hay,  a  hundred  tons  of 
barley,  and  was  in  the  act  of  taking  out  money  very 
rapidly.  ,i^;; 

I  also,  with  my  law  partner  Kirkpatrick,  built  another 
quartz  mill  in  the  canyon  of  Gold  Hill.  If  the  winter 
had  been  as  usual  I  would  have  had  the  foundation  of 
a  fortune  of  a  million;  in  fact,  in  November,  1861,  I 
had  an  offer  for  my  interest  in  the  two  properties  of 
$500,000.  But  about  the  middle  of  December  there 
came  the  most  terrific  snowstorm  ever  known  in  Nevada. 
When  the  snow  was  five  or  six  feet  deep  in  Virginia 
City,  where  it  seldom  falls  a  foot  deep,  and  when  the 
valley  about  Carson  was  also  covered  several  feet  with 
snow,  a  warm  rain  set  in,  and  the  flood  was  terrible. 
It  filled  the  mine  with  water  and  carried  away  both 
mills;  while  the  hay,  the  grain,  and  the  ore  at  the  mill 
were  all  swept  away ;  nothing  was  left  on  the  bar  where 
the  mill  was  built,  which  before  the  flood  was  covered 
with  a  heavy  growth  of  cottonwoods  from  one  to  three 
feet  in  diameter,  and  it  became  a  mass  of  boulders  and 
nothing  else.  I  lost  $500,000  in  a  night. 

The  destruction  of  the  mills  and  the  ore  left  us 
without  money  to  pay  our  men  or  to  buy  food  for  our 
animals. 

I  went  to  the  boarding-house  keepers,  arranged  for 
the  board  of  the  men  until  my  return,  and  also  provided 
for  feeding  the  mules  with  barley  costing  twenty-five 
cents  a  pound.  I  had  a  friend  in  San  Francisco  by  the 
name  of  Chris  Reis  who  had  plenty  of  money.  I 
resolved  to  see  him  as  quickly  as  possible  and  raise 
enough  on  the  mine  to  pay  all  the  debts  that  we  had 
incurred. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         143 


I  started  from  Gold  Hill,  in  Storey 
for  San  Francisco,  California,  on  foot  overffialisbury's) 
grade,  a  distance  of  about  300  miles.  When*!  ISiWea 
at  Yanks,  an  important  station  about  a  mile  and  a  half 
south  of  Lake  Tahoe,  I  found  two  or  three  hundred 
men  there  waiting  for  the  storm  to  subside  so  they  could 
cross  the  mountains.  I  remained  at  Yanks  that  night. 
The  morning  after  my  arrival  the  snow  on  the  grade 
upon  the  mountain  was  very  deep,  covering  the  tele 
graph  poles  ;  but  being  familiar  with  the  location  I  had 
no  difficulty  in  reaching  the  summit  of  the  mountain. 
When  I  arrived  there  the  wet,  heavy  snow  was  falling 
very  rapidly.  There  I  met  one  of  the  Salisbury 
brothers,  who  had  come  from  California.  He  told  me 
that  I  must  turn  back,  that  I  never  could  cross  the 
mountain. 

I  insisted  that  I  must  go  on,  and  when  he  failed  to 
persuade  me  to  return  he  started  to  leave  me,  and  when 
about  150  yards  from  where  our  conversation  took 
place  a  snowslide  came  and  buried  him  so  deep  that  his 
remains  were  not  found  until  the  following  June. 

Knowing  that  in  a  snowstorm  no  man  can  steer  a 
straight  course,  but  that  men  so  situated  invariably 
walk  in  a  circle  until  they  perish,  I  took  the  precaution 
to  steer  my  route  truly  by  sighting  from  tree  to  tree. 
I  traveled  by  this  method  four  miles  in  about  five  hours, 
when  the  topography  of  the  country  enabled  me  to  pro 
ceed  more  rapidly. 

I  arrived  about  dark  at  a  station  on  the  road  known 
as  Strawberry  Ranch,  and  there  spent  the  night.  It  was 
raining  and  snowing  and  every  ravine  was  a  raging 
torrent.  The  mountains  were  softened,  and  landslides 
were  frequent  and  terrible.  The  next  morning  I  pro 
ceeded,  and  after  I  had  traveled  about  fifteen  miles 
I  heard  an  unusual  roar,  although  the  landslides  on  both 
sides  of  the  river  kept  up  a  continual  noise  worse  than 
thunder. 


144        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Looking  up  to  the  right  I  observed  the  tops  of  the 
trees  moving.  I  ran  back  about  two  hundred  yards  to 
avoid  a  section  of  the  country  that  was  sliding  down. 
About  eighty  acres  of  land  slid  down  the  mountain  into 
the  South  Fork  of  the  American  River,  which  was 
about  a  thousand  feet  below  the  road,  and  dammed  it 
for  a  considerable  time.  I  waited  until  the  moving  of 
the  crumbling  mass  ceased,  and  then  ran  across  it,  and 
found  when  I  struck  solid  land  that  the  house  of  the 
station  was  still  standing,  but  the  barns  and  horses  and 
outbuildings  had  been  carried  down  by  the  slide.  The 
people  were  very  much  frightened,  but  inasmuch  as  it 
was  all  quiet  then,  they  gave  me  a  cup  of  coffee  and 
some  bread  and  I  proceeded  on  my  way. 

I  ran  and  walked,  and  walked  and  ran,  and  arrived 
that  night  at  Placerville,  a  distance  of  forty-eight  miles 
from  Strawberry  Ranch.  I  stayed  all  night  at  Placer 
ville.  The  next  morning  I  tried  to  hire  a  horse  but 
could  not,  and  so  bought  one  and  rode  it  to  Fulsom, 
a  distance  of  about  thirty-five  or  forty  miles,  and  found 
that  the  flood  was  all  over  the  valley  and  had  carried 
away  the  railroad  which  ran  from  Sacramento  to 
Fulsom.  I  waded  my  horse  for  about  fifteen  miles  to 
a  knoll  some  four  miles  from  Sacramento,  where  there 
was  nearly  half  an  acre  of  ground  that  was  not  covered 
by  water. 

There  were  two  boats  there,  and  I  traded  my  horse 
to  one  of  the  boatmen,  in  order  to  reach  Sacramento. 
The  water  was  generally  up  to  the  second  story  of  the 
buildings.  I  rowed  to  the  house  of  Frank  Hereford, 
which  was  on  rather  an  elevated  place,  and  there  the 
water  was  only  about  one  foot  deep  on  the  first  floor. 
We  spent  the  night  on  the  second  floor.  The  next 
morning  I  got  the  boatman  to  row  me  out  in  search  of 
a  steamer  for  San  Francisco.  Every  available  steamer 
had  been  sent  out  over  the  valley  to  pick  up  the  people 
to  take  them  to  places  of  safety. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         145 

After  a  long  time  I  hailed  a  steamer  bound  for  San 
Francisco,  where  I  arrived  that  evening,  and  found  my 
friend  Chris  Reis,  executed  to  him  a  mortgage  on  the 
mine,  got  $32,000  in  paper  money  and  certificates  of 
deposit,  and  started  back. 

The  return  trip  was  not  very  difficult  as  the  storm  had 
substantially  subsided,  but  no  mail  had  passed  over 
during  my  absence  and  I  found  the  same  party  at  Yanks 
that  I  had  left  there  about  a  week  before. 

I  proceeded  at  once  to  Gold  Hill  and  Virginia  City, 
paid  off  the  men,  paid  their  board  bills  and  paid  for 
keeping  the  mules;  but  I  had  hard  work  selling  the 
mules  at  any  price,  and  practically  gave  them  away. 

But  the  best  of  it  all  was,  nobody  knew  I  was  broke, 
and  I  was  able  to  buy  interests  in  mines  that  I  knew  to 
be  good.  With  my  law  business,  which  was  very  lucra 
tive,  I  recuperated  my  fortunes  without  ever  exposing 
my  loss.  In  about  ten  days  we  sold  the  mine  for 
$60,000  to  the  Graves  brothers,  who  took  from  it 
several  millions. 

The  first  district  court  after  the  organization  of  the 
Territory  was  opened  by  Judge  Gordon  N.  Mott  in 
February,  1862.  The  calendar  was  loaded  with  all 
sorts  of  suits,  most  of  them  involving  the  question 
whether  the  porphyry  belt  containing  the  mines  was 
one  or  more  veins  or  lodes. 

The  mass  of  porphyry  in  which  all  the  veins  or  lodes 
were  found  lay  against  Mount  Davidson,  and  the  foot- 
wall  of  this  mass  pitched  to  the  east  at  an  angle  of  about 
40  degrees,  while  no  regular  hanging-wall  was  anywhere 
found.  In  fact,  the  distance  to  a  different  character  of 
rock  bounding  the  porphyry  belt  on  the  east  was  nearly 
a  mile  from  the  Virginia  croppings  where  the  foot-wall 
was  found. 

Some  of  the  advocates  of  the  many-lead  theory  got 
into  a  conflict  with  each  other,  and  had  quite  a  lively 
litigation,  in  which  I  did  not  participate.  It  was  only 

10 


146         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

when  an  attack  was  made  on  the  Comstock  locations 
that  I  took  a  part.  The  most  prominent  of  these  side 
shows  was  the  contest  between  the  Burning  Moscow  and 
the  Madison  companies.  The  claims  for  which  they 
were  contending  were  situated  west  of  the  Ophir.  The 
stock  in  these  two  companies  rose  very  high,  and  each 
in  turn  went  up  and  down  according  to  the  public  esti 
mation  of  its  respective  chances  of  success. 

I  will  not  burden  the  reader  with  the  details  of  the 
famous  litigation  on  the  Comstock,  the  estimated 
expense  of  which  rose  to  the  enormous  sum  of 
$10,000,000*. 

While  the  contest  between  the  Burning  Moscow  and 
the  Madison  companies  was  raging  and  nearly  every 
company  on  the  Comstock  was  fighting  claimants  of 
so-called  parallel  ledges  to  the  Comstock,  to  avoid  vast 
expenditures  I  suggested  to  the  trustees  of  the  Chollar 
and  other  companies  a  plan  of  settlement.  I  told  them 
to  sell  their  stock  in  their  Comstock  locations  and  buy 
the  Grass  Valley  claim,  which  was  about  2000  feet 
long,  and  others  located  in  that  range,  and  then  settle 
the  Comstock  litigation  by  drawing  a  perpendicular 
plane  between  the  Grass  Valley  on  the  east  and  the 
Comstock  locations  on  the  west.  Such  a  settlement 
would  have  excluded  from  the  Comstock  the  great 
bodies  of  ore  which  were  afterward  found,  and  confined 
the  Comstock  locations  to  the  first  bodies  of  ore  found 
near  the  surface. 

At  that  time  it  was  impossible  to  satisfy  my  clients 
that  the  ground  covered  by  the  eastern  locations  was 
of  any  value,  as  they  believed  that  all  the  value  would 
be  above  the  line  suggested.  If  my  advice  had  been 
taken,  and  the  Comstock  claims  sold  out  for  what  they 
would  bring,  the  owners  of  the  Comstock  would  have 


"'Volume  IV  of  Clarence  King's  U.  S.  Geological  Survey,  under 
the  authority  of  Congress,  contains  a  very  good  history  of  the 
Comstock  mine  and  the  litigation  to  settle  titles. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        147 

O~ 

secured  a  great  victory  and  made  money  in  the  opera 
tion;  but  the  Chollar  and  other  companies  refused  to 
adopt  my  advice  and  the  litigation  proceeded.  With 
regard  to  this,  Mr.  Lord*,  after  describing  this  effort 
for  a  settlement,  comments  as  follows : 

Unfortunately,  the  trustees  of  the  Chollar  Company  could  not  be 
persuaded  to  adopt  Mr.  Stewart's  views,  and  he  was  reluctantly 
obliged  to  abandon  his  project  and  continue  the  fight.  If  he  was  not 
successful  as  a  peacemaker  he  had  no  reason  to  complain  of  his 
fortune  as  a  contestant.  The  leading  lawyers  of  the  Pacific  seaboard 
were  employed  in  the  various  suits,  and  the  California  courts  were 
for  the  first  time  deserted,  so  to  speak,  for  the  more  profitable  field 
of  practice  in  the  new  Territory.  The  fees  paid  by  the  wealthier 
companies  to  their  attorneys  would  have  dazzled  Hortensius  and 
Scaevola,  and  were  far  in  excess  of  those  earned  by  the  most  com 
petent  counsel  in  the  Atlantic  States.  Benjamin  R.  Curtis,  who 
resigned  his  seat  on  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  bench  to 
become  the  acknowledged  leader  of  the  Massachusetts  bar,  received 
an  average  return  of  $40,000  annually  for  his  legal  services  during 
the  seventeen  years— 1857-1874,— while  the  professional  income  of 
Mr.  Stewart  during  the  years  of  fiercest  litigation  at  Washoe  was 
$200,000  annually.  The  Belcher  Mining  Company  repaid  his  services 
with  100  feet  of  their  claim,  which  he  sold  for  $100,000,  and  the 
Yellow  Jacket  gave  him  $30,000  as  a  single  fee.  The  rewards  were 
princely,  but  the  labor  was  more  exacting  than  the  task  of  the 
slave.  The  vigor  and  earnestness  with  which  he  carried  on  the 
legal  war  are  undisputed.  Once  enlisted  as  counsel  in  a  case,  he 
made  the  cause  of  the  clients  his  own.  He  saw  no  foundation  of 
justice  in  any  claim  of  an  opponent  and  left  no  stone  unturned  to 
achieve  success.  His  own  determination  to  win  at  any  cost,  and  the 
belief  that  he  would  match  his  adversary  with  any  weapons  which 
the  latter  might  employ  exposed  his  course  to  sharp,  if  not  merited, 
criticism;  but  he  defied  his  critics  to  prove  their  assertions  in  the 
courts.  It  must  be  admitted  that  in  offering  this  challenge  he  ran 
little  risk,  for  the  direct  complication  of  so  shrewd  a  lawyer  in 
unwarrantable  practices  could  scarcely  be  proven.  It  is  equally  cer 
tain  that  the  Washoe  bar,  at  that  time,  was  not  a  nursery  for  tender 
consciences,  and  if  he  fought  fire  with  fire  he  had  not  a  few  imi 
tators  and  assistants. 

All  might  have  been  content  to  equal  him  in  industry  and  devotion 
to  the  cause  of  his  clients.  In  preparation  for  his  cases  he  worked 

*Ellio.tt  Lord's  "History  of  the  Comstock." 


148        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

day  and  night,  seemingly  incapable  of  fatigue.  His  mastery  of  the 
details  of  a  case  was  so  complete  and  his  memory  so  accurate  that 
during  the  progress  of  a  suit  he  took  no  notes,  but  he  was  able 
to  refer  in  citation  to  testimony  of  the  mast  complex  and  contra 
dictory  character  with  extraordinary  correctness.  During  the  course 
of  one  trial,  if  several  suits  in  which  he  was  engaged  were  to  be 
brought  up  in  succession,  it  was  his  practice  to  prepare  for  them  so 
fully,  with  the  assistance  of  his  associate  counsel,  that  he  rarely 
had  occasion  to  request  a  postponement,  but  was  ready  to  proceed 
to  trial  at  a  moment's  notice. 

In  addressing  a  jury  he  endeavored  to  make  his  statement  of 
the  case  as  clear,  straightforward,  and  simple  as  possible,  avoiding 
carefully  any  semblance  of  legal  quibble  or  trick.  He  placed  him 
self  on  their  level  of  comprehension,  spoke  to  them  as  man  to 
man,  appealed  to  their  crude  sense  of  justice  and  fairness,  and 
strove  to  convey  the  idea  that  his  clients  were  entitled  to  a  verdict 
in  equity  even  more  than  by  law.  His  opponents  protested  that  "he 
was  endowed  by  nature  with  a  faculty  of  imposing  the  sublimest 
absurdities  upon  juries  as  pure  and  spotless  truth/'  but  the  success 
of  his  method  was  grumblingly  admired.  Though  abstaining  from 
legal  finesse,  he  did  not  hesitate  to  resort  to  any  device  of  rhetoric 
which  could  serve  his  end.  The  broadest  sarcasm  and  ridicule  were 
effective  with  a  jury  in  a  mining  camp  whom  subtle  wit,  however 
brilliant,  would  have  failed  to  impress. 

So  in  the  notable  case  of  the  Yellow  Jacket  Mining  Company, 
the  determining  cause  of  the  verdict,  as  Mr.  Stewart  believes,  was 
not  the  plea  which  he  was  able  to  make  upon  the  merits  of  the 
case,  but  the  discomfiture  of  a  rival  attorney,  Mr.  Frank  Hereford, 
by  a  ridiculous  comparison.  Mr.  Hereford,  who  represented  the 
Union  Company,  had  only  recently  arrived  in  the  Territory,  and  it 
occurred  to  Stewart  to  annoy  him,  if  possible,  and  make  the  jury 
laugh  by  alluding  to  his  natural  inexperience  in  conducting  jury 
trials  in  Nevada.  He  compared  Hereford  accordingly  with  absurd 
gravity  and  minuteness  of  detail  to  a  young  broncho  horse,  un 
trained  and  fresh  from  the  plains,  brought  up  into  the  thin,  cold  air 
of  the  mountain  city,  and  his  arguments  were  likened  to  the  first 
efforts  of  the  pony  who  pants  and  gasps  in  the  new  atmosphere. 
When  the  newcomer  became  acclimated  and  had  recovered  his  wind, 
so  to  speak,  he  might  be  of  some  service,  but  till  then  Stewart 
hinted  provokingly  that  he  was  unfit  for  rivalry  with  a  trained 
old  war-horse  like  himself.  The  badinage  was  not  charged  with  a 
delicate  wit,  but  it  was  effective  in  accomplishing  the  two-fold  aim 
of  provoking  his  rival  and  setting  the  rough  jurymen  in  a  roar  of 
laughter.  Hereford's  attempted  retorts  were  skilfully  parried  and 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        149 

his  able  presentation  of  the  cause  of  his  clients  obtained  little  con 
sideration. 

In  the  trial  of  another  suit  of  the  first  importance,  a  different 
temper  was  manifested.  The  indignation  of  the  jury  and  spectators 
was  artfully  excited  by  the  bitter  denunciation  of  the  treachery  of 
the  leading  witness  until  their  passion  was  uncontrollable.  In  no 
other  trial  on  the  Comstock  was  such  a  flame  of  excitement  kindled 
as  in  this  suit  of  Sierra  Nevada  Mining  Company  vs.  American 
Mining  Company. 

The  tract  claimed  under  the  location  made  By  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Company  had  been  seized  upon  by  opposing  claimants  until  the 
ground  was  honey-combed  with  prospect  holes.  Mr.  Stewart  was 
attorney  for  the  Sierra  Nevada  Company  in  1862-63,  as  well  as  one 
of  its  trustees,  and  advised  that  suits  should  be  brought  against 
all  locators  on  the  disputed  ground  in  order  to  quiet  title,  know 
ing  that  many  of  the  cases  would  never  be  contested  or  brought  to 
trial,  and  that  judgment  by  default  would  accordingly  be  obtained. 
His  advice  was  taken,  and  a  complaint  was  made  by  George  D.  Whit 
ney,  president  of  the  Sierra  Nevada  Mining  Company,  setting  forth 
the  facts  in  the  case  at  length  and  attesting  them  by  his  affidavit 
upon  oath,  as  well  as  by  the  affidavits  of  others.  The  result  was 
as  the  attorney  had  anticipated.  Judgment  was  confessed  by  some 
of  the  claimants,  but  others,  among  whom  was  the  American  Min 
ing  Company,  contested  the  Sierra  Nevada  title  and  forced  the 
company  to  institute  suits  for  ejectment. 

As  the  time  set  for  the  trial  of  the  suit  against  the  American 
Company  approached  (February  26,  1863)  Mr.  Stewart  found  to 
his  surprise  that  no  steps  had  been  taken  by  the  president  of  the 
Sierra  Nevada  Company  to  provide  for  the  necessary  initial  ex 
penses.  Mr.  Whitney  had  so  far  shown  himself  energetic  and 
honorable  in  the  conduct  of  the  suits  to  quiet  title,  and  his  present 
course  appeared  inexplicable.  Stewart  wrote  to  the  San  Francisco 
office  of  the  company  but  received  no  satisfactory  answer.  Finally 
only  three  days  were  left  before  the  day  of  trial,  and  the  attorney, 
suspecting  treachery,  determined  to  act  on  his  own  responsibility 
and  promptly.  He  wrote  to  the  trustees  informing  them  of  the 
singular  course  of  the  president,  and  urging  that  one,  at  least, 
should  set  out  for  Virginia  City  immediately  to  confirm  his  action; 
but  knowing  that  no  one  could  arrive  in  time  to  be  of  any  service 
in  the  preparation  for  the  trial,  he  set  to  work  without  further 
delay.  His  first  act  was  to  obtain  the  "sinews  of  war,"  as  he  said, 
from  a  reluctant  money-lender.  With  $20,000  thus  procured  he 
employed  surveyors  to  make  an  accurate  map  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
claim,  and  sent  messengers  on  swift  horses  to  Carson,  Genoa,  and 
all  the  valley  towns  for  miles  around  to  collect  witnesses. 


150        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Before  the  three  days  had  expired  he  had  prepared  thoroughly 
the  case  for  his  clients,  mustered  a  formidable  array  of  witnesses, 
and  was  able  to  establish  a  plausible  case  on  affirmative  evidence 
without  giving  a  clue  to  the  course  which  he  proposed  to  take  in 
rebuttal.  Mr.  Charles  H.  S.  Williams,  who  was  accounted  the 
ablest  lawyer  on  the  Coast  in  the  trial  of  nisi  prius  suits,  had  been 
engaged  to  conduct  the  case  for  the  American  Company.  This 
was  the  first  time  that  he  had  ever  been  pitted  against  Mr.  Stewart, 
and  the  latter  was  disposed  to  make  the  contest  a  sharp  one,  as  Mr. 
Williams  had  alluded  somewhat  bitterly  to  him  in  the  course  of  a 
previous  trial,  The  Burning  Moscow  vs.  The  Madison  Company. 

On  the  night  before  the  trial,  February  25,  1863,  Mr.  Whitney 
arrived  on  the  stage  from  California,  and  he  had  hardly  entered  the 
city  before  Mr.  Stewart  telegraphed  to  the  other  trustees  that  they 
were  betrayed  and  that  the  trial  could  not  be  postponed.  He  did 
not  know  Whitney's  intentions,  but  suspected  the  truth,  as  w,as 
afterward  ascertained,  that  the  inducement  held  out  to  him  was  a 
large  amount  of  stock  in  the  American  Company,  which  Whitney 
took  after  disposing  of  the  greater  part  of  his  interest  in  the  Sierra 
Nevada. 

The  trial  began  the  next  day  in  a  crowded  court-room.  Mr. 
Stewart  made  out  a  prima  facie  case,  as  he  anticipated,  and  con 
tented  himself  at  first  with  a  concise  statement  of  the  facts,  hint 
ing  at  the  singular  action  of  Mr.  Whitney,  but  purposely  moderate 
in  tone.  Mr.  Williams  incautiously  replied,  committing  himself 
more  fully  than  he  would  have  spoken  on  second  thought  in  defense 
of  Whitney,  whom  he  proposed  to  call  as  a  witness.  This  was 
Stewart's  object,  and  when  it  fell  to  his  turn  to  cross-examine  Whit 
ney,  March  3,  1863,  he  contrived  to  obtain  much  more  minute  and 
positive  affirmations  than  had  been  elicited  in  the  direct  examina 
tion.  Then  he  turned  sharply  on  the  witness  and  produced  the  com 
plaint  to  which  he  had  sworn  six  months  before.  He  went  over 
this  sentence  by  sentence,  showing  a  direct  conflict  of  testimony 
on  the  important  points.  "Did  yoii  swear  so  and  so,"  he  would 
ask,  "six  months  ago?"  Whitney  moved  uneasily  on  the  stand, 
hesitated,  stammered,  made  evasive  answers,  and  soon  became 
utterly  confused.  Stewart  pressed  him  more  hotly  than  ever  and 
drove  him  fairly  to  the  wall.  The  crowd  in  the  court-room,  catch 
ing  the  purport  of  these  ringing  questions  and  seeing  the  apparent 
faithlessness,  became  passionately  excited,  half  through  personal 
interest  and  half  through  a  contagious  sympathy.  The  trembling 
witness  appealed  to  the  judge,  Hon.  Gordon  N.  Mott,  but  the  judge 
decided  that  the  questions  were  pertinent  and  must  be  answered. 
Surrounded  by  a  densely  packed  ring  of  threatening  faces  and 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        151 

assailed  implacably  by  his  inquisitor,  Whitney  suffered  a  keen  torture 
for  several  hours  on  the  stand.  At  last  he  was  permitted  to  retire, 
but  .the  effect  which  the  shrewd  lawyer  had  aimed  to  produce  was 
attained. 

In  summing  up  the  case  for  the  Sierra  Nevada  Company  he  had 
the  opportunity  for  which  he  had  been  waiting,  for  the  crowd 
in  the  court-room  was  already  strongly  moved  by  the  develop 
ments  in  the  case  and  was  prepared  for  the  passionate  invective 
and  appeal  which  he  knew  how  to  make.  He  painted  the  act  of 
Whitney  in  the  darkest  colors  as  the  trick  of  a  renegade,  false  to 
his  duty,  false  to  his  friends,  false  to  his  honor.  The  witness  had 
sworn  to  a  tissue  of  lies  which  had  been  laid  bare  in  all  their 
blackness,  and  left  the  stand  branded  for  life  as  a  perjurer  who  had 
betrayed  his  trust  Scarcely  less  bitter  was  the  attack  upon  the 
defending  counsel.  He  styled  the  introduction  of  Whitney  as  a 
witness  an  unpardonable  crime  which  was  a  burning  disgrace  to  the 
conductors  of  the  defense.  It  involved  Williams  as  a  guilty  associ 
ate  in  a  shameful  conspiracy  and  would  remain  an  enduring  stain 
upon  the  profession  to  which  he  belonged.  The  jury  caught  the 
passionate  glow  and  heat  of  the  speaker  and  bent  forward  eagerly 
to  listen.  The  spectators  muttered  sympathy  and  crowded  closely 
about  the  bar.  When  Stewart  spoke  his  last  fierce  sentence  an 
ominous  murmur  ran  through  the  court-room.  The  attempted 
defense  of  Mr.  Williams  was  ineffective.  The  jury  was  deaf  with 
passion,  and  left  their  seats  inflexibly  prejudiced  against  the  wit 
ness  Whitney  and  the  case  of  the  American  Company.  They  did 
not  waste  time  in  reconciling  possible  differences.  One  man  alone 
was  inclined  to  protest  against  the  action  of  the  majority.  They 
told  him  they  would  hang  him  if  he  persisted,  and  having  a  well- 
grounded  faith  in  this  assurance  he  yielded  instantly,  and  a  verdict 
was  rendered  at  once  for  the  plaintiff,  the  Sierra  Nevada  Company, 
March  5,  1863.* 

In  four  years  I  received  $500,000  fees  in  the  Corn- 
stock  litigation. 


*In  1875,  when  Virginia  City  was  burned  down,  all  of  Senator 
Stewart's  records  of  the  Comstock  litigation  and  all  newspaper 
files,  were  destroyed.  Hence  he  was  compelled  to  write  from 
memory,  and  to  quote  Mr.  Lord's  history. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

Chollar  and  Potosi  controversy — Exposure  of  bribed  jurors — I  turn 
.the  tables  on  my  enemies — Three  judges  resign  in  ona  day — 
$14,000  in  greenbacks  for  information — The  jockey  skips. 

One  of  the  leading  controversies  with  regard  to  the 
Comstock  lode  arose  between  the  Chollar  and  the 
Potosi.  The  Chollar  was  the  old  location  and  the 
Potosi  the  parallel  location  on  the  east.  The  Potosi 
entered  upon  the  Chollar  mine;  the  Chollar  brought 
suit  and  recovered  judgment. 

After  judgment  was  obtained  by  the  Chollar,  the 
Potosi  sunk  down  on  the  dip  of  the  vein  and  claimed 
the  ore  as  a  separate  lead.  The  Chollar  again  brought 
suit,  and  undoubtedly  would  have  recovered  if  there 
had  not  been  a  change  of  judges.  I  quote  again  from 
Mr.  Elliott  Lord's  "History  of  the  Comstock": 

Potosi  stock,  which  had  rallied  somewhat,  suffered  another  sharp 
decline,  but  the  managers  of  the  company  were  by  no  means  dis 
posed  to  give  up  the  contest.  A  shaft  was  sunk  accordingly,  outside 
the  eastern  boundary  surface  line  of  the  Chollar  Company,  and  a 
deposit  of  rich  ore  was  soon  reached.  The  contention  was  instantly 
renewed,  and  cross  suits  were  instituted  by  both  companies.  The 
managers  of  the  Potosi  Company  believed  that  Judge  Gordon  N. 
Mott  was  biased  in  favor  of  the  claims  of  the  Chollar  Company,  and 
as  the  Chief  Justice,  George  Turner,  was  accounted  a  Chollar 
partisan,  .they  resolved  to  change  the  constitution  of  the  bench  by 
inducing  Judge  Mott  to  resign  and  obtaining  the  appointment  of 
James  W.  North,  a  lawyer  who  was  known  to  have  a  different 
opinion  as  to  the  rightfulness  of  their  claims.  How  this  plan  was 
carried  out  was  bluntly  stated  by  the  Virginia  City  Territorial 
Enterprise,  July  26,  1864,  fully  endorsed  by  the  Gold  Hill  News  of 
the  same  date,  and  subsequently  confirmed  by  the  decision  of 
referees  in  a  libel  suit  instituted  December  6,  1864:  "We  assert 
that  Judge  North's  place  on  the  bench  was  bought  for  him.  The 
price  paid  was  $25,000.  The  payee  was  Gordon  N.  Mott.  The 
person  paying  it  was  John  Atchison,  in  behalf  of  the  Potosi  Com 
pany.  We  believe  that  there  was  some  flimsy  pretext  of  railroad 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        153 

business  which  glossed  over  the  payment  of  .the  money  to  Mott, 
but  it  will  not  be  pretended  that  the  object  of  paying  Mott  was 
any  other  than  to  get  North  on  the  bench." 

Whether  the  appointment  of  North  was  bought  with 
an  understanding  that  he  belonged  to  the  litigators  who 
bought  him,  or  whether  he  had  a  peculiar  mind  is 
immaterial.  Every  decision  he  rendered  in  every  case 
over  which  he  presided,  except  one,  exhibited  evidence 
of  a  strong  bias  against  the  owners  of  the  Comstock 
claim  in  the  litigation  with  regard  to  the  Potosi;  while 
the  court  substantially  held  that  a  judgment  in  favor 
of  the  Chollar  stopped  the  Chollar  from  what  was 
recovered  by  that  same  judgment.  This  may  look  para 
doxical,  but  it  was  North's  idea  of  justice. 

Judge  Locke,  who  was  put  on  the  bench  soon  after 
North,  was  probably  the  most  ignorant  man  who  ever 
acted  in  any  judicial  capacity  in  any  part  of  the  world. 
While  the  case  was  being  argued  in  the  Supreme  Court 
as  to  whether  the  Chollar  was  entitled  to  what  it  had 
won  by  the  judgment  of  the  court,  Locke  met  an  old 
friend  from  Missouri  who  was  driving  an  ox  team,  and 
undertook  to  explain  to  him  before  some  bystanders  the 
question  that  was  before  the  Supreme  Court.  His 
explanation  was  as  follows : 

"You  see  the  Potosi  fellows  say  the  Chollar  fellows 
ought  to  be  stopped  and  that  they  have  no  right  to  sue. 
Now,  don't  you  think  if  anybody  wants  to  sue,  they 
have  got  a  right  to  sue?" 

And  the  teamster  said  he  did.  But  notwithstanding 
the  sound  advice  given  him  by  the  teamster,  Locke 
decided  both  ways  several  times  on  that  impbrtant 
question. 

I  do  not  wish  to  revive  old  scandals,  besides,  if  I  did 
it  would  take  several  volumes  to  tell  all  I  know  of 
the  three  judges  who  resigned  in  one  day  at  my  sugges 
tion,  the  details  of  which  I  will  briefly  state. 

There  was  an  extension  north  from  the  Potosi,  called 


154         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  North  Potosi.  It  was  a  long  claim  lying  parallel 
to  the  Hale  and  Norcross,  the  Savage,  the  Gould  and 
Curry,  and  extending  to  some  point  below  the  Consoli 
dated  Virginia. 

A  suit  had  been  brought  by  the  Savage  Company 
against  the  North  Potosi,  and  was  one  of  the  long- 
pending  suits  which  had  not  been  brought  to  trial. 
Immediately  after  the  appointment  of  North,  William 
R.  Garrison  and  other  speculative  capitalists  in  San 
Francisco  bought  up  the  North  Potosi  and  boomed 
the  stock  from  $2  or  $3  to  $100  a  share.  It  was 
impossible  for  the  Savage  Company  to  get  a  continu 
ance,  and  the  trial  was  had  before  Judge  North  as  soon 
as  possible  after  his  appointment.  I  had  for  an  assistant 
in  that  case  i^v  P.  Crittenden,  an  eminent  lawyer  from 
Kentucky,  who  afterward  met  with  a  violent  death  at 
the  hands  of  the  notorious  Laura  Fair. 

There  was  great  difficulty  in  obtaining  a  jury  to  try 
the  case,  because  every  man  with  sufficient  intelligence 
to  sit  upon  the  jury  had  committed  himself  on  one 
side  or  other  of  the  controversy.  To  my  great  astonish 
ment,  men  came  forward  who  had  been  active  in 
litigation  involving  the  question  under  consideration, 
and  declared  they  had  no  opinion,  bias  or  prejudice. 
Eight  of  the  jurors  whom  I  was  compelled  to  accept  I 
knew  very  well  were  violent  partisans  of  the  opposite 
side.  Four,  whom  I  knew  to  be  men  of  character  and 
sterling  worth,  confessed  that  they  entertained  an  opin 
ion  that  there  were  several  parallel  ledges  in  the 
Comstock  formation,  but  they  said  in  answer  to  my 
questions  that  they  had  no  bias  or  prejudice  that  would 
prevent  them  from  deciding  according  to  law  and  the 
evidence.  I  realized  that  both  the  law  and  the  evidence 
were  on  my  side,  because  the  Savage  and  the  North 
Potosi  were  clearly  connected  in  the  same  body  of  ore. 

I  introduced  witnesses  to  prove  the  title  to  the 
Savage,  and  that  the  Potosi  was  working  in  the  body 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         155 

of  ore  which  everybody  conceded  belonged  to  the 
Savage. 

The  case  of  the  plaintiffs  was  not  a  long  or  a  difficult 
one,  but  a  most  disgraceful  incident  occurred  when  the 
defendant's  counsel  called  their  first  witness.  His  name 
was  Richard  Brown,  a  person  I  knew  very  well,  who 
had  been  deputy  sheriff  in  Sierra  County  at  the  time  of 
the  trial  of  Ellis.  The  day  before  the  trial  Brown  came 
to  my  office  in  company  with  Joe  Stow,  a  sharp,  slippery 
manipulator.  Stow  stated  that  if  Brown  could  be 
induced  to  stay  he  would  give  very  valuable  testimony 
in  favor  of  the  Savage,  and  that  if  I  would  give  him 
$500  he  would  stay,  because  he  would  lose  that  much 
by  neglecting  business  which  he  had  in  a  distant  town. 
Knowing  that  he  could  give  no  testimony  of  any  value 
to  either  side,  I  told  him  he  had  better  go  and  attend 
to  his  business. 

He  then  went  to  Bob  Morrow,  who  was  at  that  time 
superintending  the  Savage  mine,  and  told  him  he  would 
give  very  damaging  testimony  against  the  Savage,  but 
that  if  he  would  give  him  $500  he  would  go  away  and 
not  give  the  testimony.  Bob  Morrow  very  inconsider 
ately,  and  without  consulting  me,  gave  him  the  money. 

When  called  as  a  witness,  Brown  came  forward  very 
pompously  and  said  that  before  he  testified  he  desired 
to  deposit  in  court  $500,  which  the  superintendent  of 
the  Savage  had  given  him  if  he  would  leave  and  not 
give  his  testimony.  I  appreciated,  from  my  knowledge 
of  the  parties  and  the  circumstances,  that  it  was  a 
trick  and  that  he  had  been  paid  for  performing  it, 
but  my  associate,  Mr.  Crittenden,  very  nearly 
fainted. 

I  was  sitting  near  enough  to  him  to  grasp  his  arm, 
and  if  I  didn't  make  it  black  and  blue  I  know  I  gave 
him  great  pain,  for  he  evinced  considerable  agony.  I 
whispered  to  him  to  say  nothing  until  court  adjourned 
for  dinner.  During  the  noon  recess  I  told  him  I 


156         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

believed  Dick  Brown  got  $1,500  for  playing  that  trick; 
but  that  did  not  restore  his  nerve. 

I  saw  from  the  conduct  of  the  eight  jurors  and  the 
pleasure  they  expressed  at  Brown's  trick  that  they  were 
in  the  game  also.  I  was  confident  that  they  were  bribed. 
The  jury,  after  it  was  panelled,  was  kept  separate  in  a 
room  in  charge  of  a  little  deputy  who  was  a  noted 
race  jockey. 

His  name  at  that  time  was  Billy  Brown.  I  deter 
mined  to  ascertain  from  Billy  Brown  how  the  jury  had 
been  bribed.  It  would  naturally  be  performed  through 
him,  as  he  was  the  very  kind  of  a  man  they  would  use. 
I  knew,  however,  that  Billy  would  not  dare  tell  me 
unless  his  safety  was  secured.  He  knew  that  if  he  let 
out  the  secret  he  would  not  live  to  old  age. 

There  was  a  celebrated  old  race-horse  in  the  town, 
and  as  soon  as  court  had  adjourned  I  sent  a  man  to  buy 
the  horse  for  $500,  saddled  and  bridled  it,  and  had 
it  tied  under  my  office  window. 

I  then  hunted  up  Brown,  and  took  him  nolens  nolens 
to  my  room,  locked  the  door,  and  told  him  I  wanted  a 
private  conversation  with  him. 

"If  you  tell  me  what  pay  each  juror  has  received, 
the  conversation  which  has  passed,  and  the  kind  of 
money  paid,  I  will  give  you  as  much  money  as  you  paid 
the  jury,"  I  said. 

"Don't  ask  me  such  a  question.  I  would  be  killed  if 
I  told,"  he  replied. 

"Look  down  there;  do  you  see  what  horse  that  is? 
If  you  were  on  that  horse,  do  you  think  anybody  could 
catch  you?" 

"Not  on  your  life!"  said  the  jockey. 

I  had  provided  myself  with  $14,000  in  greenbacks 
on  which  there  was  a  slight  discount,  but  this  was 
before  greenbacks  were  very  low.  I  took  the  money 
from  my  pocket.  His  eyes  glistened,  and  with  a  foxy 
grin  he  told  me  how  he  had  bribed  eight  members  of 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         157 

the  jury,  paying  them  $13,000;  the  kind  of  money  he 
had  paid  to  each,  and  how  much,  and  where  the  trans 
actions  took  place;  and  he  also  repeated  quite  accur 
ately  what  each  juror  had  said.  Four  of  the  twelve 
he  had  not  dared  approach. 

When  he  had  finished  his  story,  which  occupied  fully 
an  hour,  I  handed  him  the  $14,000.  Brown  grabbed 
the  money,  ran  down  the  stairs,  and  without  waiting 
to  go  to  his  home  to  change  his  clothes,  jumped  on  the 
race-horse  and  galloped  away.  Maybe  he  played  jockey 
again,  but  if  he  ever  did  he  must  have  changed  his 
name.  Anyhow,  I  never  heard  of  Billy  Brown  after 
that. 

The  testimony  for  the  defense  was  not  lengthy  and 
was  concluded  the  next  day.  The  day  following  the 
argument  commenced.  Crittenden  opened  with  a  very 
lame  statement. 

Three  able  lawyers  made  strong  speeches  for  the 
Potosi.  They  were  Jim  Hardy,  one  of  the  leading 
attorneys  in  mining  cases  on  the  Pacific  coast;  Frank 
Hereford,  who  was  afterward  United  States  Senator 
from  West  Virginia,  and  Todd  Robinson,  their  star 
attorney,  who  concluded. 

He  had  a  habit  of  winding  up  an  argument  by  faint 
ing  away  and  falling  on  the  floor  before  a  jury.  He 
could  play  that  trick  so  well  that  anybody  would  swear 
it  was  the  real  thing. 

As  he  reached  his  climax  he  swayed  about,  grabbed 
at  the  air,  and  fell  flat  on  his  back.  The  effect  was 
electrical.  The  great  mass  of  the  people  filling  the 
court-room  were  interested  in  the  many-ledge  theory, 
and  were  crazy  with  joy  at  the  apparent  complete 
triumph  of  their  case. 

I  waited  a  moment  for  the  restoration  of  order,  and 
then  proceeded.  It  so  happened  that  the  four  jurors 
who  had  not  been  corrupted  were  at  my  left,  near  the 
end  of  the  bench,  toward  the  judge.  The  other  eight 


158        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

were  sitting  together  at  the  other  end  of  the  jury-box. 
I  walked  up  to  the  most  remote  juror,  looked  at  him  a 
minute, — I  presume  with  an  earnest  expression,  for  I 
was  in  earnest, — and  told  him  in  distinct  language  how 
a  juror  might  be  bribed.  I  illustrated  it  by  repeating 
the  conversation  that  had  taken  place  between  him  and 
Billy  Brown,  telling  him  the  place,  the  amount,  and 
kind  of  money,  and  all  the  details  of  his  corruption. 

Frank  Hereford,  who  had  apparently  fainted  away, 
sprang  to  his  feet  and  protested  against  my  manner  of 
addressing  the  jury. 

I  turned  to  the  judge  and  demanded  that  he  should 
look  at  that  juror  and  tell  me  if  my  argument  was  not 
in  order.  By  that  time  everybody  was  looking  at  the 
juror,  who  fell  back  in  his  seat,  pale  and  trembling. 
The  judge,  taken  by  surprise,  said  in  a  low  tone, 
"Go  on." 

I  then  addressed  the  next  juror,  and  the  next,  until 
I  completed  the  panel  of  the  eight,  giving  every  detail 
of  the  bribery.  Before  I  concluded  the  eight  were  so 
agitated  and  prostrated  that  everybody  knew  they  had 
been  bribed.  I  then  took  a  map  and  proceeded  to  dis 
cuss  the  merits  of  the  case  with  the  other  four  jurors. 
I  said: 

"Gentlemen  of  the  jury,  you  truthfully  said  on  your 
oath  before  you  were  sworn  in  as  jurors,  that  you  could 
render  a  verdict  according  to  the  law  and  evidence,  and 
here  is  the  evidence.  Both  companies  are  working  in 
the  same  vein;  the  Savage  is  the  prior  location,  and 
whether  there  are  many  or  few  ledges,  the  Potosi  is 
certainly  on  the  ledge  of  the  Savage.  But  this  jury  will 
never  discuss  this  matter  in  the  jury-box;  you  four 
will  never  discuss  it  with  the  eight;  you  see  the 
reason  why." 

The  jury  went  out,  and  within  an  hour  they  were 
called  in.    They  informed  the  court  they  never  would 
agree,  and  never  would  discuss  the  subject  together, 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        159 

and  they  were  discharged.  Three  of  the  jurors,  one 
after  another,  rushed  to  my  office  and  begged  me  not 
to  prosecute  them.  I  simply  told  them  to  go  home  and 
attend  to  their  business. 

The  Potosi  stock  fell  to  some  five  or  six  dollars  a 
share  the  next  day,  and  I  telegraphed  to  my  clients  to 
secure  a  majority  of  the  stock,  which  they  did.  That 
was  the  last  great  struggle  between  the  Comstock  and 
the  parallel  ledges.  There  were,  however,  various  set 
tlements,  but  nothing  affecting  the  main  question.  The 
Comstock  people  having  control  of  the  North  Potosi, 
that  company  consented  that  the  controversy  between  it 
and  the  Gould  and  Curry,  which  lay  north  of  the  Sav 
age,  should  be  submitted  to  John  Nugent  as  referee. 
He  heard  at  length  the  testimony  as  to  whether  or  not 
the  porphyry  belt  contained  more  than  one  lode,  and  he 
made  a  report,  demonstrating  by  conclusive  proof  and 
argument  the  one-ledge  theory.  His  report  is  given  at 
length  in  the  book  of  Mr.  Gordon  of  Clarence  King's 
Geological  Survey  party. 

Judge  North  partially  regained  my  confidence  by  his 
fairness  in  the  trial  of  the  Savage  against  the  North 
Potosi.  It  is  true  he  had  very  little  opportunity  to  be 
unfair,  for  if  he  had  stopped  me  in  my  argument  to  the 
jury,  with  the  one  juryman  already  fainting,  the  effect 
on  him  would  have  been  disastrous. 

I  could  not  afford  to  wink  at  any  act  of  bribery  or 
f  corruption  perpetrated  by  any  of  my  clients  on  the 
Comstock.  If  the  community  had  really  become  sus 
picious  of  my  honesty,  my  lease  on  life  would  have  been 
short,  and  my  clients  would  have  been  overwhelmed, 
because  nine-tenths  of  the  community  were  interested 
in  parallel  vein  locations.  Judge  North,  aside  from  the 
question  of  his  appointment  to  office,  was,  to  say  the 
least,  a  very  indiscreet  man.  He  built  a  quartz  mill 
with  money  borrowed  from  litigants.  He  crushed  ore 
for  the  Comstock  companies,  particularly  the  Gould  and 


160        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Curry,  and  was  continually  demanding  better  ore  out 
of  which  he  could  make  more  money. 

To  save  myself  and  my  clients  from  reproach,  I 
denounced  North  publicly  as  a  dishonest  judge,  and  my 
charges  were  reiterated  in  the  public  press.  I  also 
denounced  the  Chief  Justice,  George  Turner,  as  cor 
rupt.  As  for  Judge  Locke,  he  was  too  ignorant  for 
denunciation.  Partisans  of  the  judges  defended  them 
in  the  public  press,  but  in  turn  they  were  overwhelmed 
with  counter-charges. 

Finally  a  notice  was  published  that  the  Supreme 
Court  would  meet  on  a  certain  Monday,  and  that  it 
would  strike  my  name  from  the  bar.  It  so  happened 
that  Abe  Meyer,  who  was  a  money-lender  and  a  remark 
ably  bright  business  man,  frequented  my  office,  and  in 
emergencies,  such  as  the  Sierra  Nevada  against  the 
American,  he  furnished  me  money  to  prepare  for  the 
trial.  It  was  paid  by  the  company  with  a  good  com 
mission.  It  was  very  convenient  to  have  an  emergency 
man  in  those  times. 

About  two  months  before  this  notice  appeared,  some 
parties  entered  upon  the  Hale  and  Norcross,  of  which 
Meyer  was  president,  without  any  show  of  title,  and 
began  removing  ore.  I  brought  suit  for  an  injunction, 
which  was  readily  granted  by  Chief  Justice  Turner. 
The  suit  was  so  simple,  and  the  injunction  so  absolutely 
proper,  that  no  one  would  have  supposed  it  necessary 
to  bribe  the  judge,  but  I  was  sufficiently  familiar  with 
the  greed  of  Judge  Turner  to  entertain  a  different 
opinion. 

When  I  received  the  notice  that  I  would  be  dis 
barred  I  told  Meyer  I  wanted  an  affidavit  with  the 
exhibits  showing  that  he  paid  Turner  for  the  Hale  and 
Norcross  injunction.  He  hesitated,  and  I  told  him  that 
it  was  necessary  for  me  to  have  them.  He  said,  "I  sees 
if  I  gets  'em,"  and  went  out.  He  came  back  in  about 
three  minutes  with  a  receipt  signed  by  Turner  for 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         161 

$2,000  and  a  check  drawn  in  favor  of  Judge  Turner 
for  $3,000  and  endorsed  by  him,  making  a  total  of 
$5,000  paid  for  the  injunction. 

I  drew  an  affidavit  and  attached  the  receipt  and 
check  as  exhibits.  When  the  court  met  at  Carson,  I 
appeared  at  the  bar  with  Meyer  standing  beside  me, 
and  I  occasionally  pulled  out  the  affidavit  and  some 
other  documents  I  had  and  looked  them  over,  and 
looked  up  at  the  court. 

As  soon  as  the  judges  were  seated  on  the  bench, 
Judge  North  announced  his  resignation.  Judge  Turner 
then  announced  that  court  would  take  a  recess  until 
seven  o'clock  that  evening.  He  sent  word  to  me  that 
if  I  would  let  up  on  him  he  would  resign.  I  sent  back 
word  that  he  must  put  his  resignation  in  a  letter 
addressed  to  the  President,  and  also  in  a  telegraphic 
dispatch ;  that  he  must  put  both  in  an  unsealed  envelope 
and  deliver  them  to  me  before  he  went  on  the  bench, 
or  I  would  swear  out  a  warrant  before  the  justice  of 
the  peace  and  have  him  arrested  for  bribery.  He  sent 
the  resignations  as  demanded.  I  mailed  one  and  tele 
graphed  the  other. 

At  seven  o'clock  Judge  Turner  came  into  court  and 
made  a  self-glorifying  speech,  in  which  he  reviewed  his 
course,  and  spoke  of  his  kindly  relations  with  all  the 
bar,  and  his  pleasant  judicial  duties.  He  said  that  inas 
much  as  the  resignation  of  Judge  North  had  destroyed 
the  usefulness  of  the  court  for  business,  he  would 
resign,  and  the  bystanders  gave  him  room  to  go  out. 

I  thought  it  was  about  time  for  me  to  express  my 
appreciation  of  the  situation,  so  I  invited  the  bar,  over 
one  hundred  being  present,  to  an  evening's  entertain 
ment.  It  was  then  nearly  eight  o'clock.  Pete  Hop- 
kins's  saloon  was  under  the  room  where  the  court  was 
held,  and  there  was  a  very  large  back  room  in  which 
various  entertainments  took  place,  such  as  dances  and 

other  festivities  not  quite  so  reputable.  We  gathered 
u 


162        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

in  there  and  elected  H.  O.  Beatty  president  of  the  meet 
ing,  as  he  was  the  oldest  man  in  the  party. 

After  the  champagne  and  other  good  things  were 
brought  in,  and  the  party  were  drinking,  smoking,  and 
telling  stories,  I  stated  to  the  president  that  it  was  in 
order  to  call  Judge  Locke  and  allow  him  to  resign. 
I  knew  very  well  that  Judge  Locke  would  avoid 
appearance  if  possible,  so  I  moved  that  two  young  law 
yers,  physically  strong  and  endowed  with  a  reasonable 
amount  of  courage,  be  appointed  as  a  committee  to 
fetch  him  to  the  meeting.  "If  he  is  locked  in  his  room," 
said  I,  "locks  can  be  broken." 

They  found  him  in  his  room,  dressed  him  hurriedly, 
and  seated  him  on  a  bench  by  my  side.  Judge  Beatty 
in  fatherly  language  told  him  that  the  object  of  the 
meeting  was  to  give  him  an  opportunity  to  resign ;  that 
the  other  two  judges  had  resigned  and  that  we  wanted 
a  new  bench. 

Locke  turned  to  me  for  advice,  and  asked  what  I 
thought  he  ought  to  do. 

"Do?"  said  I.  "Resign,  and  do  it  quick!"  I  called 
to  one  of  the  gentlemen  who  was  serving  the  good 
things  to  appease  the  appetite,  to  bring  pen  and  ink. 
"Now,"  I  added,  "write  your  resignation." 

It  was  read  aloud,  to  be  sure  that  it  was  all  right, 
signed  and  mailed;  after  which  the  whole  meeting 
became  hilarious,  and  Judge  Locke  imbibed  so  freely 
that  he  became  more  stupid  than  usual. 

The  condition  of  the  judiciary  was  a  very  potent 
argument  in  favor  of  State  government.  The  Adminis 
tration  at  Washington  undertook  to  appoint  more  Ter 
ritorial  judges,  and  President  Lincoln  nominated  John 
F.  Swift  for  Chief  Justice.  I  called  a  meeting  of  the 
bar  and  passed  resolutions  to  the  effect  that  we  wanted 
no  more  courts  until  Nevada  became  a  State.  We  were 
tired  of  Territorial  judges. 

Swift,   under  the  circumstances,   declined  to   accept 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        163 

the  position,  but  said  he  would  get  even  by  writing  a 
book  exhibiting  the  condition  and  character  of  the 
Nevada  bar.  He  wrote  the  book,  which  was  humorous 
and  reasonably  good-natured,  and  styled  it  "Robert 
Greathouse."  The  soubriquet  which  he  gave  me  was 
rather  high-sounding,  being  Mr.  Napoleon  B.  Spelter. 
He  made  me  one  of  the  heroes  of  his  novel,  although 
I  am  unable  to  appreciate  his  flattery.  Afterward  I 
became  well  acquainted  with  him  as  a  public  man  and 
a  gentleman.  He  was  for  a  long  time  Minister  to 
Japan. 


CHAPTER   XVII 

Condemned  to  death  by  a  mob  of  miners  at  Virginia  City — I  master 
the  situation  and  prove  the  strength  of  my  friends — Nevada 
becomes  a  State — Elected  to  the  United  States  Senate  December 
15,  1864 — I  draw  the  long  term. 

In  the  spring  of  1864  the  question  of  reducing  the 
wages  of  miners  from  $4  to  $3.50  a  day  was  dis 
cussed  among  the  mine  holders.  Charley  Bonner,  who 
was  then  superintendent  of  the  Gould  and  Curry, 
expressed  the  opinion  that  wages  were  too  high.  The 
miners  took  the  alarm,  organized,  and  in  a  body  800 
strong  closed  down  every  mine  on  the  Comstock.  In 
the  evening  they  met  at  Gold  Hill  and  discussed  the 
situation,  and  many  violent  speeches  were  made, 
threatening  every  suspected  individual. 

Somebody  suggested  that  I  was  one  of  the  guilty 
parties  and  ought  to  be  hanged.  He  put  the  question, 
and  the  crowd  unanimously  voted  to  string  me  up.  One 
of  my  friends  who  was  at  the  meeting  came  to  my  house 
in  Virginia  City  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  awoke 
me,  and  told  me  what  was  going  on.  I  went  back  to 
bed  and  slept  until  my  usual  time  of  getting  up,  about 
half-past  six. 

After  breakfast  friends  told  me  that  the  miners  were 
marching  up  from  Gold  Hill  in  a  body  extending  more 
than  a  mile  in  length,  and  that  I  had  better  get  out 
of  the  way.  Accordingly  I  went  down  to  C  Street  in 
Virginia  City  and  saw  the  miners  coming  about  two 
blocks  away.  I  waited  their  arrival  and  then  called 
out: 

"Appoint  a  committee  and  have  this  matter  inves 
tigated!" 

They  named  a  committee.  We  went  up  on  a  hotel 
balcony,  where  we  could  be  seen,  and  began  to  arbi- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         165 

trate.  In  about  two  or  three  hours  we  had  prepared 
a  resolution  which  was  satisfactory  to  the  miners.  It 
was  agreed  that  wages  should  remain  at  $4  per  day; 
that  those  who  had  been  promoters  of  the  scheme  to 
hang  me  should  not  be  discriminated  against,  and  that 
friendly  relations  should  be  restored.  We  could  not 
find  the  superintendents,  all  of  whom  had  fled,  so  we 
took  an  adjournment  until  evening.  Then  we  found 
several  of  the  superintendents,  but  it  was  impossible  to 
get  them  to  the  meeting.  They  were  afraid  of  being 
lynched. 

Charley  Bonner  had  taken  refuge  in  the  attic  of  a 
French  restaurant,  where  there  was  not  over  two  feet 
between  the  ceiling  and  the  roof,  with  an  enormous 
range,  cooking  for  several  hundred  people,  beneath. 
He  was  nearly  dead  with  heat  and  fear.  We  dragged 
him  out  by  the  legs  and  put  him  in  a  cooler  place,  and 
when  the  meeting  convened  again  in  the  evening  we 
told  the  miners  that  we  could  find  the  superintendents 
in  due  time;  if  not,  we  would  appoint  others;  that  our 
resolutions  should  be  carried  out  and  that  we  should 
stand  by  them. 

The  miners  dispersed,  and  the  next  day  the  superin 
tendents  began  to  return  when  they  found  their  necks 
were  safe.  My  friends  congratulated  me  on  the  position 
I  took  in  meeting  the  mob,  but  they  did  not  know  as 
well  as  I  did  the  number  of  friends  I  had  among  them, 
and  that  a  mob  is  not  dangerous  when  you  give  it 
something  to  do.  It  is  resistance  without  action  that 
makes  a  mob  dangerous. 

In  about  six  weeks  or  two  months  from  the  time 
the  miners  decided  to  hang  me,  the  Legislature  was 
about  to  be  nominated  for  the  new  State  government, 
and  the  general  election  for  State  officers  was  held  on 
the  same  day. 

There  was  in  Storey  County  a  Union  League  which 
was  organized  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war,  and 


166         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stev  art 

had  continued  its  regular  meetings  up  to  that  time. 
There  were  3,700  members  of  that  League  in  Virginia 
City  and  Gold  Hill.  Several  gentlemen  thought  they 
were  particularly  qualified  for  United  States  Senator. 

I  proposed  to  them  to  submit  it  to  the  Union  League 
without  argument,  their  preference  to  be  an  instruction 
to  the  members  of  the  Legislature  afterward  elected. 
The  proposition  was  accepted  and  an  agreement  was 
signed  and  handed  over  to  the  League. 

In  due  time  the  vote  was  taken,  and  of  the  3,700 
I  had  3,640.  I  thought  this  a  pretty  good  refutation 
of  the  criticisms  of  my  opponents  in  the  litigations  dur 
ing  the  four  stormy  years  preceding.  In  fact,  I 
regarded  it,  and  still  regard  it,  as  my  vindication 
against  all  charges  and  insinuations  that  I  adopted  or 
countenanced  any  improper  action  in  the  great  Corn- 
stock  case. 

When  the  Enabling  Act  was  passed  by  Congress 
on  March  21,  1864,  authorizing  Nevada  to  enter  the 
Union,  it  was  understood  that  the  Government  at 
Washington  was  anxious  that  Nevada  should  become 
a  State  in  order  that  her  Senators  and  Representatives 
might  assist  in  the  adoption  of  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  in  aid  of  the  restoration  of  the  Southern  States 
after  the  Union  should  be  vindicated  by  the  war. 
Another  and  very  important  factor  in  inducing  the 
people  to  vote  for  Statehood  was  the  unsatisfactory 
judiciary  condition  under  a  Territorial  form  of 
government. 

The  Territorial  election  at  which  the  State  Consti 
tution  was  submitted  to  the  vote  of  the  people  occurred 
September  7,  1864.  There  was  a  large  majority  for 
the  Constitution,  and  October  31,  1864,  President  Lin 
coln  issued  a  proclamation,  as  provided  by  the  Enabling 
Act,  declaring  Nevada  a  State  of  the  Union. 

Nevada  having  become  a  State,  a  general  election 
was  held  November  8,  1864,  at  which  State  and  County 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        167 

officers  were  elected.  The  total  vote  cast  at  that  elec 
tion  was  16,328. 

The  Legislature  met  December  15,  1864,  at  Carson 
City,  the  capital,  and  elected  me  to  the  United  States 
Senate  on  the  first  ballot,  and  James  W.  Nye,  my  col 
league,  was  elected  the  following  day. 

After  receiving  our  credentials,  Senator  Nye  and  I 
proceeded  to  Washington  by  the  Panama  route,  and 
were  sworn  in  February  i,  1865,  after  which  we  drew 
lots  to  decide  who  should  have  the  long  term.  By 
accident  the  long  term  fell  to  me.  It  expired  March 
4,  1869. 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

Lincoln  as  I  knew  him — Stanton  and  the  rich  Israelite — A  White 
House  joke  on  a  couple  of  Senatorial  wits — Lincoln's  method 
of  transacting  business — No  Cabinet  officers,  only  messenger 
boys — The  President's  joke  on  Alexander  H.  Stephens — Peace 
Conference  at  Fortress  Monroe — The  new  Cabinet — Horace 
Greeley  grows  wise. 

The  morning  after  I  took  my  seat  in  the  Senate  I 
called  upon  President  Lincoln  at  the  White  House.  He 
received  me  in  the  most  friendly  manner,  taking  me  by 
both  hands,  and  saying: 

"I  am  glad  to  see  you  here.  We  need  as  many  loyal 
States  as  we  can  get,  and,  in  addition  to  that,  the  gold 
and  silver  in  the  region  you  represent  has  made  it  pos 
sible  for  the  Government  to  maintain  sufficient  credit 
to  continue  this  terrible  war  for  the  Union.  I  have 
observed  such  manifestations  of  the  patriotism  of 
your  people  as  assure  me  that  the  Government  can  rely 
on  your  State  for  such  support  as  is  in  your  power." 

Mr.  Lincoln's  countenance  when  in  repose  was  the 
saddest  I  ever  saw,  but  when  he  smiled  to  encourage  a 
visitor,  or  desired  to  show  him  the  impossibility  of 
granting  his  request,  his  face  would  overflow  with 
genial  good  humor;  and  he  would  usually  tell  an 
anecdote  which  would  illustrate  the  situation  and 
invariably  induce  his  visitor  to  agree  with  him,  whether 
he  granted  or  refused  the  request. 

Washington,  in  the  winter  of  1864-1865,  was  a  sorry- 
looking  city.  The  streets  were  cut  up  by  great  army 
wagons  until  they  were  nearly  impassable.  Hundreds 
of  colored  men  carried  boards  around  on  their  shoulders, 
and,  for  a  consideration,  assisted  pedestrians  to  cross  the 
"thoroughfares,"  and  aided  persons  riding  hi  carnages 
to  reach  the  sidewalks  when  their  vehicles  mired  down. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        169 

A  trip  from  the  Capitol  to  the  White  House  fre 
quently  occupied  an  hour,  and  sometimes  two  hours, 
and  one's  hack  very  often  would  be  stalled  hub  deep  in 
the  mud  in  Pennsylvania  Avenue,  and  one  would  have 
to  climb  out  and  wade  ashore,  and  continue  one's  journey 
on  foot,  or  hail  another  hack  and  take  another  chance. 
The  streets  leading  to  the  White  House  were  in  a  horri 
ble  condition,  but  when  one  reached  there,  and  had 
scraped  some  of  the  grime  off,  and  cleaned  up,  the 
reception  he  received  from  President  Lincoln  was  more 
than  compensating. 

Every  morning  at  ten  o'clock  the  doors  of  the  White 
House  were  opened.  Mr.  Lincoln  had  a  habit  of  stand 
ing  in  a  doorway  between  two  rooms,  where  he  received. 
Senators  and  Representatives,  calling  upon  business, 
passed  him  in  line,  and  when  they  had  informed  him 
of  their  wants  they  would  leave  by  the  door  where  the 
President  stood,  and  thus  there  was  no  congestion.  The 
dispatch  with  which  Mr.  Lincoln  transacted  business 
by  this  plan  was  marvellous. 

Mr.  Lincoln  seemed  to  anticipate  the  business  of 
every  caller,  and  attended  instantly  to  each  case  pre 
sented,  so  that  in  the  course  of  one  morning  he  could 
meet  nearly  every  member  of  the  Senate  and  House. 
He  would  often  receive  as  many  as  a  hundred  repre 
sentative  men  in  two  hours. 

If  an  important  matter,  which  required  more  time, 
arose,  the  President  would  make  an  appointment  for 
a  later  meeting.  No  person  of  either  political  party 
ever  visited  Abraham  Lincoln  in  vain,  and  ninety-nine 
out  of  every  one  hundred  of  his  visitors  decided  their 
own  cases,  for  or  against  themselves.  The  President 
had  a  way  of  letting  his  callers  arrange  things,  but 
strange  to  say,  the  things  were  always  arranged  the 
way  Mr.  Lincoln  wanted  them,  and  persons  who  had 
met  him  to  insist  on  something  would  go  away  without 
it,  and  wondering  how  they  could  have  wanted  it. 


170         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

The  White  House,  at  that  time,  was  plainly  fur 
nished.  It  was  the  simple  home  of  a  simple  man. 
President  Lincoln  was  the  greatest  man  this  hemisphere 
has  produced.  Without  schooling  he  wrote  the  best 
English;  without  education  in  rhetoric  or  logic  he  was 
the  most  conclusive  reasoner;  without  the  slightest  pre 
tension  to  oratory  he  was  the  most  persuasive  speaker 
of  his  time.  He  was  the  kindest,  most  benevolent  and 
humane  man  of  his  generation.  Whoever  may  be  second 
as  a  scholar,  as  a  statesman  and  as  a  friend  of  humanity, 
Lincoln  must  always  be  first. 

I  stood  in  line  one  morning  with  quite  a  number  of 
Senators  behind  me.  My  colleague,  Senator  Nye, 
came  up  to  me  and  handed  me  a  package  of  papers 
on  the  outside  of  which  was  indorsed  in  a  bold  hand, 

"The  Application  of for  restoration  to  his 

position  as  sutler." 

My  business  with  Mr.  Lincoln  not  being  very  im 
portant,  was  dispatched  at  once,  and  I  then  held  the 
package  in  my  hand,  saying  to  him  that  my  colleague 
had  requested  that  I  present  the  papers  to  him. 

He  read  the  indorsement  at  a  glance,  and  said: 

"That  is  a  case  of  a  rich  Israelite.  He  has  been 
removed  at  the  request  of  Mr.  Stanton.  Mr.  Stanton 
says  he  is  dishonest  and  cannot  be  trusted.  If  I  should 
interfere  in  the  matter  it  would  cause  a  heated  con 
troversy  with  Mr.  Stanton.  You  tell  Brother  Nye  what 
I  have  said,  and  if  he  thinks  the  matter  of  sufficient 
importance  to  require  me  to  quarrel  with  Mr.  Stanton, 
to  come  and  see  me  and  give  me  his  reasons." 

I  took  the  message  to  Nye,  and  he  declared  in  lan 
guage  more  emphatic  than  polite  that  he  should  not 
visit  the  President  for  any  such  purpose.  It  was  appar 
ent  that  my  colleague  knew  Mr.  Lincoln  pretty  well, 
and  that  he  did  not  want  to  hear  an  anecdote. 

Senator  Nesbit  of  Oregon,  and  Senator  Nye,  enjoyed 
the  reputation  of  being  humorous  and  amusing  story- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         171 

tellers.  Mr.  Lincoln,  within  a  week  of  our  arrival, 
gave  a  dinner  at  the  White  House  to  the  Senators  of 
the  West.  His  invitations  were  first  verbal  and  then  in 
writing.  He  told  his  guests  that  he  had  two  match 
less  story-tellers  to  entertain  them. 

When  we  were  seated  around  the  table  both  Sen 
ators  were  so  abashed  that  every  shadow  of  wit 
departed  from  them,  and  it  devolved  upon  Mr.  Lin 
coln  to  put  the  party  in  good  humor.  He  accomplished 
that  to  the  satisfaction  of  everybody.  He  told  stories 
on  Nesbit  and  Nye  until  the  dinner  party  became 
hilarious.  Their  discomfiture  was  complete,  but  finally, 
after  they  were  thoroughly  cornered,  they  rallied  and 
contributed  to  the  good-fellowship  of  the  dinner. 

Lincoln's  manner  of  dispatching  business  of  all  kinds 
was  remarkable.  In  February,  1865,  I  received  a  tele 
graphic  dispatch  from  Nevada,  informing  me  that  the 
United  States  District  Attorney  and  theRegister^pjF 

fecufaon  " 


VJ  i  ttW*Vl*i(m  iTiTOTTi  I « I  i  1 1  MB  (QftK 


people  for  cutting  timber  on  ^jjgP^  lands.  No 
surveys  had  been  made,  no  lands  had  been  sold,  and 
there  was  no  other  place  to  obtain  timber  or  firewood 
except  by  trespassing  upon  the  public  domain.  This 
had  been  a  universal  practice,  from  the  valleys  of  Cali 
fornia  to  the  eastern  slope  of  the  Rocky  Mountains, 
for  more  than  twenty  years. 

F  took  the  dispatch  to  Joseph  Wilson,  the  Commis 
sioner  of  the  General  Land  Office.  He  immediately 
turned  to  the  law  and  the  instructions  to  local  officers, 
and  told  me  that  he  could  do  nothing,  as  they  were  dis 
charging  their'  duty  under  the  law. 

I  then  called  on  Mr.  Browning,  the  Secretary  of  the 
Interior,  and  obtained  a  similar  reply. 

I  then  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  told  him.  It  was 
not  necessary  for  me  to  explain,  for  he  knew  there 
was  no  private  land  upon  which  to  cut  timber,  and  that 
the  people  could  not  exist  without  firewood  and  lumber. 


172         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

He  shoved  a  tablet  across  the  table  and  asked  me  if 
I  knew  of  two  citizens  in  my  State  who  could  discharge 
the  duties  of  District  Attorney  and  Register  of  Lands. 
I  told  him  I  did. 

"Please  write  their  names  on  that  tablet,"  he  said. 

I  did  so  and  he  indorsed  it,  directing  the  Attorney- 
General  and  Secretary  Browning  to  make  out  commis 
sions  for  the  appointment  of  these  gentlemen.  He  rang 
the  bell,  gave  the  order  to  a  messenger,  turned  to  me, 
and  entered  into  a  pleasant  conversation  as  if  nothing 
had  happened. 

At  the  time  Mr.  Lincoln  met  Alexander  H.  Stephens 
and  others  at  Fortress  Monroe  for  the  purpose  of  dis 
cussing  the  question  of  peace,  shortly  after  I  had  taken 
my  seat,  the  Republican  Senate  was  thrown  into  con 
siderable  excitement. 

A  caucus  was  called  and  speeches  were'  made  criti 
cising  the  President  for  leaving  the  White  House  and 
assuming  such  a  hazardous  undertaking.  I  was  seated 
near  William  Pitt  Fessenden  of  Maine,  who  was  an 
able  man  and  an  acknowledged  leader  in  the  Senate. 
I  remarked  to  him  privately  that  I  saw  no  occasion 
for  any  uneasiness.  I  said  I  believed  Mr.  Lincoln 
could  take  care  of  himself;  besides,  he  had  a  large  part 
of  his  Cabinet  with  him. 

"My  young  friend,"  said  Fessenden,  putting  his  hand 
on  my  shoulder,  "I  see  you  have  a  very  high  opinion 
of  Mr.  Lincoln;  but  you  are  mistaken  if  you  suppose 
he  has  a  Cabinet.  Mr.  Lincoln  has  never  had  a 
Cabinet.  The  heads  of  the  Departments  who  are  called 
Cabinet  officers  are  his  clerks  and  messenger-boys,  and 
whether  they  know  it  or  not,  they  always  do  what  he 
wants  them  to  do.  He  might  just  as  well  be  alone  at 
Fortress  Monroe  as  to  have  any  of  his  Cabinet  with 
him." 

This  gave  me  a  still  clearer  idea  of  Mr.  Lincoln's 
superior  power.  Mr.  Fessenden  had  served  in  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        173 

Cabinet  for  a  considerable  time  as  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  and  knew  what  he  was  saying. 

Stephens  told  an  amusing  story  to  his  neighbors 
after  his  return  to  Georgia  from  the  conference  at 
Fortress  Monroe.  He  was  a  little  man,  with  no  physi 
cal  strength,  and  when  he  went  North  to  Fortress 
Monroe  he  suffered  intensely  from  the  cold. 

He  bundled  up  in  several  layers  of  clothing,  over 
coats,  shawls,  and  a  great  cap,  until  he  resembled  a 
very  large  man.  Stephens  said  that  President  Lincoln 
looked  down  at  him  as  he  took  off  his  wraps  and 
emerged  from  his  shelter,  and  said : 

"Well,  that's  a  mighty  little  ear  for  so  much  shucks." 
Stephens  said  that  Mr.  Lincoln's  expression  was  so 
comical  that  he  enjoyed  the  joke  on  himself. 

When  Mr.  Lincoln  formed  his  first  Cabinet,  on 
March  4,  1861,  selecting  Salmon  P.  Chase  of  Ohio  for 
Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  and  William  H.  Seward  of 
New  York  for  Secretary  of  State,  every  man  of  promi 
nence  whom  I  met  predicted  trouble  in  the  council- 
room.  Chase  and  Seward  had  been  candidates  for  the 
nomination  against  Lincoln  and  were  still  very  ambi 
tious.  Everybody  supposed  they  would  either  dominate 
him  or  greatly  embarrass  his  Administration;  but 
after  the  Cabinet  was  formed  it  was  soon  ascertained 
that  they  were  as  children  in  his  presence. 

Simon  Cameron  of  Pennsylvania,  a  most  conspicuous 
and  able  leader,  was  made  Secretary  of  War,  but  he 
soon  became  Minister  to  Russia,  and  Edwin  M.  Stanton, 
of  Pennsylvania,  was  appointed  in  his  place,  January 
15,  1862.  All  of  the  other  members  of  the  Cabinet 
were  strong  men  and  experienced  in  political  affairs. 

Seward  was  scholarly  and  adroit  and  was  able  to 
frame  diplomatic  letters  to  meet  the  emergencies  in 
which  the  country  was  involved,  for  the  consideration 
of  the  President,  who,  with  his  own  hand,  interlined 
and  changed  them  in  such  manner  as  to  maintain  the 


174         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

dignity  of  the  United  States,  and  avoid  foreign  wars, 
and  at  no  time  furnish  an  excuse  to  the  nations  of 
Europe  to  recognize  the  Southern  Confederacy.  The 
wisdom  of  the  supervision  exercised  by  Mr.  Lincoln 
over  the  Department  of  State  was  so  eminently  just  and 
proper  that  Mr.  Seward  acquiesced  without  complaint. 

Secretary  Chase  expected  to  be  the  successor  of  Mr. 
Lincoln  at  the  expiration  of  his  first  term,  but  the 
popularity  of  Lincoln  grew  so  rapidly  as  to  eclipse  the 
prospects  of  Chase,  and  the  ambitious  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  willingly  retired  from  the  contest  and 
accepted  the  position  of  Chief  Justice  of  the  Supreme 
Court  of  the  United  States,  a  place  for  which  he  was 
better  qualified. 

The  great  man  of  the  Cabinet,  however,  was  Stan- 
ton,  the  most  learned,  patriotic  and  earnest  worker  in 
the  cause  of  the  Union  that  served  in  any  capacity  dur 
ing  the  war.  One  can  scarcely  realize  the  trials  and 
anxieties  of  the  Department  of  War  during  the  most 
tremendous  struggle  of  ancient  or  modern  times, 
through  which  the  country  passed  during  four  years  of 
civil  strife.  Stanton  remained  at  his  post  from  the 
beginning  to  the  end,  but  when  the  war  had  closed  so 
great  had  been  the  tension  his  nerves  were  unstrung, 
and  death  alone  could  relieve  him  of  his  sufferings. 

When  President  Johnson  attempted  to  remove  him 
from  the  office  of  Secretary  of  War,  without  the  con 
sent  of  the  Senate,  and  contrary  to  the  provisions  of  the 
Civil  Service  Act,  passed  by  Congress  over  the  veto  of 
the  President,  I  was  selected  to  spend  several  nights 
in  the  office  with  Secretary  Stanton.  He  could  not 
sleep,  because  his  duties  had  kept  him  awake  so  con 
tinuously  that  he  had  practically  lost  the  power  of 
sleep.  He  told  me  of  many  incidents  of  the  rebellion, 
things  which  he  could  not  help,  but  which  cost  him 
pain.  I  am  confident  that  he  never  did  a  harsh  or  inhu 
mane  act  which  he  could  avoid.  I  know  his  critics 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         175 

misjudged  him  for  a  cruel  tyrant  because  he  did  his 
duty,  and  did  not  credit  him  with  the  kind  and  generous 
heart  which  bled  for  the  sufferings  of  others  while 
powerless  to  avert  them. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  the  only  public  man  who  con 
stantly  wrote  letters  to  friends  and  foes  and  gained 
strength  and  popularity  by  every  one.  Horace  Greeley 
was  very  anxious  for  the  issuance  of  a  proclamation 
abolishing  slavery,  and  on  August  19,  1862,  wrote 
Mr.  Lincoln  an  earnest,  impatient,  and  rather  arrogant 
letter  demanding  the  immediate  abolition  of  slavery, 
to  which  Mr.  Lincoln  made  the  following  reply: 

Executive  Mansion, 
Washington,  Friday,  August  22,  1862. 
HON.  HORACE  GREELEY. 

Dear  Sir :  I  have  just  read  yours  of  the  ipth  instant,  addressed 
to  myself  through  the  New  York  Tribune. 

If  there  be  any  statements  or  assumptions  of  facts  which  I 
may  know  to  be  erroneous,  I  do  not  now  and  here  controvert  them. 

If  there  may  be  any  inferences  which  I  may  believe  to  be  falsely 
drawn,  I  do  not  now  and  here  argue  against  them. 

If  there  be  perceptible  in  it  an  impatient  and  dictatorial  tone,  I 
waive  it  in  deference  to  an  old  friend  whose  heart  I  have  always 
supposed  to  be  right. 

As  to  the  policy  I  "seem  to  be  pursuing,"  as  you  say,  I  have  not 
meant  to  leave  any  one  in  doubt.  I  would  save  the  Union.  I 
would  save  it  in  the  shortest  way  under  the  Constitution. 

The  sooner  the  National  authority  can  be  restored,  the  nearer  the 
Union  will  be — the  Union  as  it  was. 

.    If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they  could 
at  the  same  time  save  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

If  there  be  those  who  would  not  save  the  Union  unless  they 
could  at  the  same  time  destroy  slavery,  I  do  not  agree  with  them. 

My  paramount  object  is  to  save  the  Union  and  not  either  to  save 
or  destroy  slavery. 

If  I  could  save  the  Union  without  freeing  any  slave,  I  would  do 
it — and  if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  all  the  slaves,  I  would  do  it — and 
if  I  could  save  it  by  freeing  some  and  leaving  others  alone,  I  would 
also  do  that. 

What  I  do  about  slavery  and  the  colored  race,  I  do  because  I 
believe  it  helps  to  save  the  Union,  and  what  I  forbear,  I  forbear 
because  I  do  not  believe  it  would  help  to  save  the  Union. 


176        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

I  shall  do  less  whenever  I  shall  believe  what  I  am  doing  hurts 
the  cause,  and  shall  do  more  whenever  I  believe  doing  more  will 
help  the  cause. 

I  shall  try  to  correct  errors  when  shown  .to  be  errors,  and  I  shall 
adopt  new  views  so  fast  as  they  will  appear  to  be  true  views. 

I  have  here  stated  my  purpose  according  to  my  view  of  official 
duty,  and  I  intend  no  modification  of  my  oft-expressed  personal  wish 
that  all  men  everywhere  could  be  free. 

Yours, 

A.  LINCOLN. 

In  conversation  with  Mr.  Greeley  afterward,  he  said 
that  Lincoln  had  knocked  him  out  with  one  letter  and 
he  would  be  d if  he  would  ever  write  another. 

It  was  currently  reported  in  Washington,  and 
assumed  to  be  a  fact,  that  a  delegation  of  ministers 
from  New  England  called  on  the  President  and 
requested  him  to  remove  General  Grant  from  the  army 
on  account  of  intemperance.  This  was  after  Grant 
had  made  a  name  for  himself  in  the  West.  Mr.  Lin 
coln  is  reported  to  have  said  to  the  reverend  gentlemen 
that  Grant  was  his  best  general  and  that  he  wished 
he  could  make  them  all  as  good.  He  thought  it  would 
be  a  good  idea  if  they  could  find  out  what  kind  of 
liquor  he  drank,  so  he  could  send  them  all  the  same 
kind.  He  accompanied  his  expressions  with  such 
inimitable  good  humor,  and  praised  the  good  they  had 
done  in  the  cause  to  such  an  extent,  that  they  all  went 
away  satisfied;  and,  if  not  fully  convinced,  they 
admitted  to  themselves  that  it  might  be  a  good  thing 
to  distribute  that  kind  of  whiskey  generally  among  the 
officers  of  the  Army. 


CHAPTER  XIX 

Zach  Chandler's  conspiracy  to  invade  Canada — An  army  of  Grant's 
and  Lee's  veterans  to  whip  .the  British — Farragut  and  the 
Charleston  mines — Sheridan  characterizes  the  French  army  as 
a  mob — With  Lincoln  at  City  Point — A  dash  on  the  Rebel  lines. 

During  the  latter  part  of  February,  1865,  it  became 
evident  that  the  Civil  War  was  drawing  to  a  close, 
and  there  was  great  joy  in  Washington,  and  intense 
relief  felt  among  the  officers  at  the  helm  of  govern 
ment  when  the  surrender  at  Appomattox,  April  9,  1865, 
virtually  terminated  the  frightful  struggle. 

England  had  wiped  our  commerce  from  the  seas  by 
building  the  Alabama,  the  Florida,  the  Shenandoah, 
and  other  swift  privateers  for  the  Confederates,  which 
were  let  loose  upon  the  shipping  of  the  United  States. 
There  is  no  doubt  that  this  country  had  ample  cause 
for  war  with  Great  Britain,  and  there  was  a  strong 
undercurrent  of  sentiment  in  favor  of  it. 

Senator  Zach  Chandler  of  Michigan  was  one  of  the 
leaders  of  the  Senate,  and  a  man  of  wealth  and  patriot 
ism.  No  Senator  contributed  more  in  brains  and  action 
to  assist  the  Union  cause  than  he.  He  wished  to  see 
the  speedy  restoration  of  the  Southern  States,  and  was 
anxious  to  smite  the  British  Lion  for  the  destruction  of 
our  commerce.  He  inaugurated  a  movement  which 
secretly  spread  with  great  rapidity,  and  brought  us 
almost  to  a  rupture  with  England.  At  that  time  our 
ships  of  trade  had  been  obliterated  from  every  ocean, 
and  the  American  flag,  which  once  had  been  carried  by 
our  fast  sailing  ships  to  every  port,  had  disappeared. 
We  had  no  navy,  but  practically  every  harbor  was 
protected  by  the  iron-clads,  called  monitors,  which  had 
been  invented  and  built  during  the  war.  Our  big  sea- 
coast  cities  were  so  thoroughly  defended,  therefore,  that 
12 


178        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

no  foreign  enemy  could  have  made  a  successful  assault 
upon  us  by  sea.    There  were  no  other  iron-clads  in  the 
world,  we  had  a  monopoly,  and  not  a  wooden  ship  on 
earth — and  all  the  European  navies  were  wooden — 
would  have  had  a  show  against  them. 

This  started  Senator  Chandler  thinking,  and  he 
evolved  a  daring  scheme.  His  bitterness  against  Eng 
land  seemed  to  increase  after  the  war  had  been  ter 
minated.  One  day  he  drew  me  aside  in  the  Senate 
cloak-room,  and  unfolded  his  plan. 

"I  propose  that  we  take  an  appeal  to  President  Lin 
coln,"  he  said,  "signed  by  influential  men,  to  call  an 
extra  session  of  Congress,  and  send  two  hundred  thou 
sand  trained  veterans  into  the  British  possessions  north 
of  us;  one  hundred  thousand  picked  troops  from  the 
Federal  Army,  and  the  same  number  from  the  flower 
of  Lee's  army.  I  have  thought  of  this  seriously  for 
weeks,  and  I  shall  make  every  effort  to  bring  it  about." 
He  was  intensely  in  earnest,  and  I  knew  that  he  would 
back  his  plan  up  with  all  the  brains  and  energy  at  his 
command. 

"We  have  confronting  us,"  he  continued,  "a  great 
problem.  Our  country  is  rent  in  twain.  If  we  could 
march  into  Canada  an  army  composed  of  men  who 
have  worn  the  gray  side  by  side  with  the  men  who  have 
worn  the  blue  to  fight  against  a  common  hereditary 
enemy  it  would  do  much  to  heal  the  wounds  of  the  war, 
hasten  reconstruction,  and  weld  the  North  and  South 
together  by  a  bond  of  friendship. 
.  "I  believe  from  my  knowledge  of  human  nature  that 
those  fellows  who  have  been  fighting  each  other  for  the 
past  four  years  would  sail  in  and  lick  any  army  on  the 
face  of  the  globe,  and  be  glad,  and  proud,  and  anxious 
to  do  it.  I  believe  that  a  hundred  thousand  of  Grant's 
men  and  a  hundred  thousand  of  Lee's  could  whip  any 
army  of  twice  the  size  on  earth.  I  don't  believe  there 
are  any  such  soldiers  as  these  in  the  whole  world. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         179 

"It  would  be  impossible  for  England  and  the 
Canadians  to  organize  an  armed  force  to  meet  the 
splendid  army  of  veterans  we  could  throw  across  the 
border.  England  has  a  navy,  of  course,  but  she  can't 
do  us  any  harm,  because  we  haven't  any  commerce  to 
be  injured,  and  our  ports  are  impregnable.  England's 
wooden  vessels  would  be  helpless  against  our  monitors, 
and  our  harbors  and  coast  cities  would  be  safe." 

It  was  Senator  Chandler's  idea,  of  course,  that  the 
United  States  should  seize  Canada  from  Great  Britain 
in  payment  for  the  enormous  losses  inflicted  upon  our 
commerce  by  British-built  vessels  sold  to  the  Con 
federate  Government.  He  talked  this  matter  over  with 
me  many  times.  The  prospect  of  extending  our  north 
ern  boundary  to  the  North  Pole  pleased  him.  I  fell  in 
with  the  plan  almost  from  the  beginning.  Senator 
Chandler  unfolded  his  plot  to  many  other  Senators,  and 
it  was  discussed  seriously.  At  that  time  Alaska  was 
about  to  be  annexed,  and  it  was  realized  that  the  Brit 
ish  possessions  in  Canada  would  come  in  handy. 

Finally,  so  far  had  the  plot  progressed  that  thirty 
Senators  had  been  pledged  to  support  it,  and  I  attended 
many  informal  caucuses  at  which  the  next  steps  to  be 
taken  were  discussed. 

Then,  at  almost  the  very  instant  the  scheme  was  to 
be  sprung  upon  the  country,  and  pressure  brought  to 
bear  upon  the  President  to  secure  his  cooperation,  Mr. 
Lincoln  was  assassinated.  This  made  the  carrying  out 
of  the  plan  impossible.  From  the  very  first  day  John 
son  took  the  oath  of  office  as  President  he  was  at  war 
with  Congress,  and  the  invasion  of  Canada  never 
materialized.  Chandler's  faith  and  enthusiasm  in  the 
scheme  won  some  of  the  best  minds  in  the  Senate  to  his 
proposition. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  I  had  the  good  fortune 
to  enjoy  the  friendship  of  two  of  the  most  remark 
able  men  produced  by  the  Civil  War,  Admiral  Farra- 


180        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

gut  and  General  Sheridan.     Each  had  a  hobby,  and 
was  a  most  interesting  companion. 

In  the  spring  of  1865  Admiral  Farragut  and  his 
wife  and  Mrs.  Stewart  and  I  lived  at  the  old  Willard 
Hotel,  and  at  meals  sat  at  the  same  table.  The  old 
sea-fighter  was  modest  in  telling  of  his  deeds,  and  did 
not  regard  any  of  his  exploits  as  being  in  the  least 
extraordinary.  His  principal  hobby  was  that  it  was 
always  wise  in  battle  to  take  a  city  at  the  expense  of 
losing  a  ship,  and  he  believed  that  vessels  generally 
could  enter  harbors  and  pass  forts  and  mines  without 
great  loss. 

He  frequently  told  me  that  a  vital  mistake  had  been 
made  when  it  was  decided  not  to  send  the  Federal 
Navy  into  Charleston  Harbor  for  the  purpose  of  tak 
ing  that  city.  The  fall  of  Charleston,  he  believed, 
would  have  been  of  immense  advantage  to  the  United 
States,  might  have  terminated  the  war  speedily,  and 
would  have  saved  lives  and  property. 

I  told  the  Admiral  that  it  was  the  general  opinion 
among  the  people  of  the  North  that  Charleston  Har 
bor  was  strongly  fortified  with  mines,  or  dangerous 
torpedoes,  and  that  it  would  have  been  destructive  to 
any  fleet  to  have  ventured  into  it. 

"Some  of  the  ships  might  have  been  hurt,"  said 
Admiral  Farragut,  "but  that's  the  fortune  of  war.  It 

was  their  duty  to  go  in  and  take  the  city — to  

with  the  mines."  The  Admiral  alluded  to  this  subject 
many  times,  and  it  seemed  to  be  a  question  of  much 
interest  with  him.  Finally,  about  the  first  of  June,  he 
came  into  the  dining-room  one  morning  and  handed  a 
newspaper  to  me. 

"What  did  I  tell  you?    Read  that." 

I  read  the  article,  which  stated  that  the  harbor  of 
Charleston  had  been  dredged,  and  no  torpedoes  found 
which  would  explode. 

General  Sheridan's  hobby  was  as  to  how  many  men 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        131 

really  fought  in  battle.  When  the  Franco-Prussian 
war  began,  President  Grant  designated  him  to  visit 
Germany,  accompany  the  German  army,  and  make 
observations  on  the  war.  I  chanced  to  be  in  New  York 
the  day  before  Sheridan  sailed. 

Chester  A.  Arthur,  who  was  afterward  President, 
was  Collector  of  the  Port.  In  honor  of  the  General 
and  two  or  three  friends  he  had  prepared  a  breakfast 
on  a  revenue  cutter,  in  which  Sheridan  was  to  be  taken 
down  the  bay  and  transferred  to  his  boat,  the  Scotia, 
the  last  side-wheel  steamer  of  the  Cunard  line,  as  she 
discharged  her  pilot.  I  was  one  of  the  party,  and  we 
spent  practically  the  entire  day  on  the  cutter,  where  we 
enjoyed  both  breakfast  and  luncheon,  in  most  congenial 
conversation.  The  General  said  that  when  the  Civil 
War  began  a  very  small  proportion  of  either  army 
fought.  I  asked  him  what  he  meant  by  that. 

uRaw  soldiers  get  excited,  shoot  too  high,  shoot  too 
low,  don't  take  aim,  and  don't  do  effective  service,"  he 
replied.  "The  Southern  armies  fought  better  than  the 
Northern  armies  at  the  beginning  of  the  war.  That  is 
to  say,  more  of  the  Southern  men  were  accustomed  to 
fire-arms,  were  better  marksmen,  took  better. aim,  and 
did  more  effective  work.  Toward  the  close  of  the  war 
the  Northern  troops  fought  the  better.  They  were 
better  fed,  better  clothed,  and  had  more  confidence  of 
victory  than  their  opponents.  But  at  that  time,  when  the 
opposing  soldiers  came  together  in  actual  hand-to-hand 
battle,  the  fighting  on  both  sides  was  very  satisfactory." 

Sheridan  was  very  anxious,  as  a  soldier  who  had  gone 
through  a  great  war,  to  witness  the  battles  between  the 
French  and  the  Germans.  He  said  he  knew  the  French 
had  not  retained  the  discipline  they  had  acquired  under 
Napoleon,  and  that  Germany  had  done  everything  to 
train  her  armies  and  prepare  them  for  war. 

He  was  desirous,  he  said,  of  seeing  whether  theoreti 
cal  training,  outside  of  actual  fighting,  would  make 


182         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

as  good  soldiers  as  the  constant  conflict  of  armies  in 
the  field.  He  wanted  to  discover  whether  men  could 
be  trained,  in  times  of  peace,  to  fight  as  well  as  men  who 
had  gone  through  a  four-year  war. 

When  Sheridan  returned  to  the  United  States  I  gave 
him  a  dinner  in  Washington,  and  when  the  dinner  was 
over  the  waiters  and  newspaper  writers  were  invited  to 
leave.  After  it  was  made  certain  to  General  Sheridan 
that  nobody  outside  of  the  select  company  would  hear 
what  he  said,  he  told  us  many  interesting  details  of  his 
trip.  I  asked  him  if  he  had  satisfied  his  curiosity  as  to 
which  was  the  better  method  of  making  soldiers,  rigid 
training  or  actual  war. 

"War,  by  all  means,"  he  said.  "There  was  no  such 
fighting  between  the  Germans  and  French  as  occurred 
between  the  North  and  the  South.  The  Germans 
moved  in  order,  and  their  generals  took  great  pains  to 
place  me  where  I  could  observe  their  maneuvers.  They 
didn't  fight  anything  like  as  well  as  the  soldiers  on 
either  side  in  our  war." 

He  said  he  did  not  like  to  talk  about  the  French, 
the  people  who  had  fought  so  many  desperate  battles; 
but  the  fact  was,  he  declared,  that  the  French  army 
was  a  mob  and  made  no  real  resistance  against  the  con 
quering  Germans. 

I  suppose  that  at  this  late  day  I  am  betraying  no 
confidence  in  alluding  to  this  matter  of  history. 

About  ten  days  before  the  surrender  of  Lee  at  Appo- 
mattox,  I  visited  City  Point,  Virginia,  the  headquarters 
of  Grant's  army.  President  Lincoln  arrived  there  on 
the  following  steamer.  There  were  a  rought  wharf,  a 
few  shacks,  some  warehouses,  and  dilapidated-looking 
buildings,  and,  stretching  away  from  the  river,  a  green 
pasture  of  fifty  acres,  in  which  about  a  thousand  horses 
were  grazing. 

These  animals  were  the  finest  bred  in  the  Northern 
States.  They  had  been  contributed  by  wealthy  gentle- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        183 

men  from  the  North  and  East,  from  their  own  stables, 
to  furnish  fresh  mounts  for  General  Sheridan's  cavalry. 
Most  of  them  were  thoroughbred  runners  or  standard 
trotters.  They  were  all  young,  and,  as  a  herd,  looked 
wild  and  untamed. 

I  lounged  around  the  wharf,  waiting  for  something 
to  happen,  and  pretty  soon  a  three-deck  propeller  came 
up  the  river,  and  landed  there.  The  boat  fairly 
swarmed  with  soldiers,  a  thousand  of  them.  They 
packed  the  decks,  and  lined  the  rails,  and  hung  on 
wherever  they  could  get  their  finger  nails  in.  They 
were  young  cavalrymen  who  had  served  with  Sheridan 
in  Virginia,  and  every  man  had  his  saddle  and  bridle — 
but  not  his  horse.  Their  mounts  had  been  killed  or  lost 
in  battle,  or  broken  down  by  hard  service. 

When  the  steamer  began  snorting,  and  puffing,  and 
blowing  its  whistle,  the  thousand  horses  in  the  fifty-acre 
field  whinnied  in  unison,  and  pranced,  and  danced,  and 
leaped  into  the  air,  and  switched  their  tails,  and  tore 
around  like  mad.  And  the  thousand  young  dismounted 
cavalrymen  eyed  those  horses ! 

They  scarcely  waited  for  the  boat  to  land,  they  were 
so  eager,  but  jumped  off  pell  mell,  with  their  accoutre 
ments,  and  started  on  a  run  for  the  field. 

An  officer  tried  to  check  them,  and  make  them  pro 
ceed  in  order,  but  they  swept  him  aside.  Whereupon 
an  older  and  more  experienced  officer  called  out,  "Let 
them  go  ahead  and  pick  out  their  horses."  I  admired 
that  officer.  Soldiers  will  obey  an  officer  like  that. 

The  men  scrambled  into  the  pasture,  and  in  ten 
minutes  the  scene  was  the  most  mixed-up  I  ever  beheld, 
nothing  but  heads,  and  manes,  and  tails,  and  legs,  and 
heels,  horses  and  humans,  in  a  conglomerate  mass  of 
color  that  was  dazzling  to  the  eye,  and  exhilarating  to 
the  emotions. 

They  were  no  ordinary  horses — they  were  thorough 
breds,  and  they  resisted  the  efforts  made  to  capture 


184        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

them.  They  kicked,  and  reared,  and  plunged,  and 
jumped,  and  rolled  over  and  put  up  a  stiff  fight,  and 
a  game  one,  too.  But  the  men  were  no  ordinary  men. 
They  were  thoroughbreds,  too.  It  was  no  use — the 
boys  had  them  all  in  less  than  twenty  minutes,  blanketed 
and  saddled.  And  then  they  dug  the  spurs  into  them, 
and  pranced  those  horses  out  of  the  field,  and  in  less 
than  half  an  hour  after  the  landing  of  the  steamer  the 
thousand  cavalrymen  with  their  fresh  mounts  between 
their  thighs  were  proceeding  in  order  to  Sheridan's  com 
mand,  twenty  miles  distant. 

I  went  to  Grant's  headquarters  with  several  letters 
of  introduction,  not  knowing  whether  I  would  meet  the 
General  or  not.  I  had  the  letters  in  my  hand  when  I 
entered  his  office.  He  grasped  me  by  one  hand,  and 
with  his  other  hand  took  the  letters  and  threw  them  into 
the  fire  behind  him.  We  had  a  few  minutes  of  pleasant 
chat  about  our  former  acquaintance  in  San  Francisco, 
when  an  orderly  came  in  with  a  dispatch. 

"Come  to  see  me  when  the  war  is  over,"  said  Gen 
eral  Grant. 

The  next  day  there  was  a  review  of  Grant's  army 
about  twenty  miles  below  City  Point,  to  which  place  a 
temporary  military  railroad  had  been  constructed.  An 
orderly  came  the  following  morning  to  the  tent  in 
which  I  had  slept,  and  conducted  me  to  the  car.  In 
it  I  met  Mr.  Lincoln,  who  was  on  his  way  to  review 
the  troops.  A  temporary  platform  had  been  erected 
on  the  reviewing  field,  upon  which  the  President  and 
General  Grant  took  their  seats.  I  was  invited  to  sit 
next  the  General. 

As  the  different  regiments  passed  President  Lincoln 
made  inquiries  as  to  what  they  were,  and  what  they  had 
done.  Finally  there  passed  a  regiment  at  the  head  of 
which  rode  one  of  the  handsomest  and  most  dis 
tinguished-looking  young  men  I  ever  saw.  He  sat  his 
horse  with  pride,  for  he  had  been  recently  promoted. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         185 

"Who  is  that  officer?"  asked  President  Lincoln,  his 
eyes  sparkling  with  admiration. 

"That  is  Colonel  Nelson  A.  Miles,"  replied  General 
Grant,  "and  he  has  won  that  position  on  the  battle 
field,  without  outside  influence." 

In  order  that  President  Lincoln  and  the  party  of 
visitors  might  have  a  good  view  of  the  army,  several 
very  fine  horses  were  brought  to  us  to  ride.  An  orderly 
led  a  horse  for  me. 

"Are  you  a  good  rider?"  he  asked,  surveying  my 
frock  coat  with  some  disdain. 

"IVe  been  in  the  habit  of  riding  horses  in  the  West," 
said  I,  "and  I  guess  I  can  stick  on  any  animal  anybody 
else  can  ride." 

"Well,  you  must  look  out  for  this  horse,"  admonished 
the  orderly.  "He  came  to  us  from  the  Confederate 
army.  One  of  the  boys  nabbed  him  the  other  day 
while  scouting." 

I  climbed  into  the  saddle,  ten  or  twelve  young  officers 
mounting  and  riding  off  with  me,  while  other  members 
of  the  party,  including  President  Lincoln,  followed. 
We  inspected  the  surrounding  country,  making  a  trip 
of  several  miles.  As  we  began  the  return  journey  my 
horse  raised  his  ears,  twitched  his  nose,  looked  longingly 
in  the  direction  of  Richmond,  squealed  a  couple  of  times, 
and  then  started  for  the  Rebel  lines  as  hard  as  he  could 
go,  which  was  quite  embarrasing.  I  went  along  with 
him.  I  did  not  recognize  any  likely  place  to  get  off. 
My  coat-tails  stood  out  grandly  in  the  fresh  breeze,  and 
my  plug  hat  sailed  off  like  a  big  black  crow  as  my  steed, 
scenting  his  old  friends  from  afar,  took  one  of  those 
broken-down  Virginia  rail  fences,  and  headed  for  Lee's 
army. 

I  gripped  the  beast  between  my  legs,  and  held  on, 
and  I  pulled  on  the  lines  with  all  my  strength ;  but  the 
horse  had  the  bit  in  his  teeth,  and  if  he  took  my  feelings 
into  consideration  he  did  not  let  on  about  it  to  me. 


186         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

While  I  was  wondering  what  the  Johnnies  would  do 
to  a  United  States  Senator,  and  congratulating  myself 
that,  at  least,  I  wasn't  invading  the  enemy's  lines  in  dis 
guise,  and  probably  wouldn't  be  shot  for  a  spy,  I  felt  the 
bit  slip  back  in  the  horse's  mouth.  Then,  abandoning 
by  former  tactics,  of  pulling  on  both  reins,  I  yanked  with 
all  my  might  and  main  on  one,  and  by  and  by  had  the 
satisfaction  of  observing  that  my  mount  was  beginning 
to  travel  in  a  pretty  big  circle,  but,  still  a  circle.  I  kept 
him  performing  in  that  way  until  some  of  the  cavalry 
men,  who  had  been  tagging  along  in  the  rear,  as  fast 
as  they  could  go,  but  nothing  like  as  fast  as  /  had  been 
going,  rode  up  and  got  between  me  and  the  Rebel  out 
posts.  Finally  I  stopped  my  Confederate  horse,  and 
that  night  I  returned  to  camp. 

The  exercise  was  quite  inspiring,  and  at  that  time 
of  life  it  was  not  altogether  disagreeable.  On  the  way 
back  to  City  Point  that  night  President  Lincoln  looked 
very  sad  and  thoughtful.  No  one  ventured  to  speak 
to  him.  I  was  in  the  seat  in  front  of  him.  I  thought 
he  was  engrossed  in  affairs  of  State.  Finally  he  aroused 
himself,  and,  leaning  toward  me,  he  said : 

"I'm  glad  that  horse  did  not  make  it  necessary  for 
me  to  make  an  application  to  the  General  of  the  Con 
federate  army  for  an  exchange  of  prisoners  for  a  United 
States  Senator,  as  we  have  never  captured  any  Con 
federate  Senators,"  and  never  smiled. 

But  his  eye  twinkled,  and,  later,  I  was  told  that  the 
President  had  viewed  my  Southern  retreat  with  great 
amusement  through  a  pair  of  field-glasses.  The  Presi 
dent  entertained  the  party  in  the  car  with  anecdotes 
illustrating  the  situation  of  the  army  at  that  time.  He 
knew,  or  thought  he  knew,  that  the  next  battle  would 
be  the  last. 

"And,"  he  said,  turning  to  me  with  a  sad  smile  on 
his  face,  "after  that  battle,  this  will  be  one  country." 

The  next  morning  my  steamer,  which  carried  a  mixed 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         187 

cargo  of  passengers  and  freight,  returned  to  Washing 
ton.  On  my  way  to  the  boat  I  passed  General  Grant's 
headquarters  to  bid  him  good-by. 

"These  busy  times  will  soon  be  over,"  he  said,  "and 
in  a  few  days  I  expect  to  meet  you  in  Washington." 
Grant,  too,  knew  that  there  was  to  be  but  one  more 
fight. 


CHAPTER  XX 

Assassination  of  Lincoln — His  last  written  words  a  message  to  me — 
Reign  of  terror — Washington  on  the  verge  of  a  bloody  battle 
between  Federal  and  Confederate  soldiers — How  a  drunken  man 
was  sworn  in  as  President — Johnson's  quarrel  with  Congress. 

The  election  of  Andrew  Johnson  to  the  office  of 
Vice-President  of  the  United  States  was  a  calamity. 
It  was  caused  by  the  desire  of  Northern  Republicans 
and  Union  men  to  have  a  representative  from  the  South 
on  the  ticket  in  1864. 

Johnson  was  very  bitter  in  his  language  against  the 
Southern  leaders,  and  the  Northern  people  supposed 
he  was  really  patriotic.  He  came  to  Washington  in 
January  or  February,  1865,  and  for  some  weeks  pre 
vious  to  the  inauguration  of  President  Lincoln  on  the 
4th  of  March,  1865,  his  general  condition  was  a  half- 
drunken  stupor.  When  he  entered  the  Senate  Cham 
ber  to  take  the  oath  of  office  as  Vice-President,  and  to 
call  that  body  to  order,  he  was  very  drunk.  He  was 
assisted  to  the  chair  by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  and  two 
door-keepers,  and  was  unable  to  stand  without  assist 
ance.  I  do  not  believe  he  was  conscious  when  he  took 
the  oath  of  office.  He  appeared  as  a  man  who  did  not 
realize  what  he  was  doing. 

Immediately  after  the  oath  had  been  administered, 
h&  grasped  the  desk  before  him  with  an  unsteady  hand, 
and,  swaying  about  so  that  he  threatened  to  tumble 
down  at  any  moment,  he  began  an  incoherent  tirade. 

There  was  no  particular  point  or  sense  in  what  he 
attempted  to  say.  "The  people  are  everything,"  he 
bawled,  "the  people  are  everything";  and  this  seemed 
to  be  the  sole  idea  he  possessed.  He  lurched  around, 
and  pointed  to  Mr.  Seward,  who  was  seated  directly 
in  front  of  the  rostrum. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        189 

uYou  are  nothing,  you  are  nothing,  Mr.  Seward,"  he 
said.  "I  tell  you,  the  people  are  everything." 

This  drunken  jargon  continued  for  some  time.  Sev 
eral  Senators  endeavored  to  persuade  him  to  leave  the 
stand.  Finally  he  was  removed,  not  without  some 
force,  by  the  Sergeant-at-Arms  to  the  Vice-President's 
room,  where  he  was  detained  until  the  ceremony  was 
concluded.  All  persons  present  were  shocked  and 
amazed,  and  there  was  a  universal  appeal  to  the  repre 
sentatives  of  the  press  to  refrain  from  publishing  any 
thing  about  the  disagreeable  scene.  The  newspapers  of 
the  country  which  alluded  to  it  at  all  did  so  in  vague 
and  obscure  language. 

After  the  inauguration  of  President  Lincoln,  Vice- 
President  Johnson  continued  to  drink  at  low  groggeries 
and  to  associate  with  toughs  and  rowdies,  both  black 
and  white.  He  was  not  choice  in  the  selection  of  his 
company.  Almost  anybody  was  good  enough  for  John 
son,  apparently. 

One  evening,  not  long  after  Mr.  Lincoln's  second 
term  began,  I  was  passing  through  Judiciary  Square. 
A  great  crowd  of  street  hoodlums  and  darkies  was  con 
gregated  about  the  City  Hall  steps,  listening  to  the 
Vice-President.  He  was  intoxicated.  His  face  was 
very  red,  and  he  was  excited.  I  listened.  He  was  con 
tending  before  the  rabble  that  all  the  Rebels  must  be 
hanged.  Johnson  didn't  make  any  distinction.  He  put 
the  whole  South  in  one  class.  He  said  it  was  treason 
to  fight  against  the  Government  and  that  he  was  in 
favor  of  hanging  every  traitor. 

It  was  quite  common  for  Mr.  Johnson  to  make  these 
open-air  speeches;  and  as  he  delivered  them  whenever 
he  had  been  drinking,  naturally  he  became  the  most 
persistent  orator  in  the  capital. 

Shortly  after  this,  on  the  day  before  the  evening  on 
which  Mr.  Lincoln  was  assassinated,  I  was  in  New 
York,  where  I  met  my  old  friend  and  partner,  Judge 


190        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Niles  Searles,  who,  although  a  Democrat,  was  a  Union 
man  and  a  gentleman  of  ability  and  sterling  worth.  He 
said  he  wanted  to  meet  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  I  invited  him 
to  go  to  Washington  with  me  that  night,  and  call  on 
the  President  the  next  day.  We  had  not  met  for  sev 
eral  years,  and  instead  of  going  to  bed  on  the  train 
we  sat  up  in  the  smoking-compartment,  and  talked 
nearly  all  night. 

The  train  arrived  in  Washington  at  an  early  hour, 
and  we  went  to  Willard's  Hotel,  where  we  took  a  nap. 
But  being  tired,  we  overslept  ourselves.  When  break 
fast  was  over  it  was  too  late  to  call  on  President  Lin 
coln,  who  received  visitors  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morn 
ing  and  at  seven  o'clock  at  night.  We  waited  until 
evening  and  called  to  see  him.  An  usher  took  our 
cards.  He  returned  in  about  five  minutes  with  a  card 
from  Mr.  Lincoln  on  which  was  written : 

I  am  engaged  to  go  to  the  theater  with  Mrs.  Lincoln.  It  is  the 
kind  of  an  engagement  I  never  break.  Come  with  your  friend 
to-morrow  at  ten  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  see  you. 

A.  LINCOLN. 

Those  were  the  last  words  Abraham  Lincoln  ever 
wrote.  I  did  not  preserve  the  card,  not  considering  it 
of  any  importance,  for  I  had  received  many  such  from 
the  President  at  various  times.  As  I  walked  down 
stairs  with  Judge  Searles  on  our  way  out,  I  dropped 
the  President's  note  on  the  floor.  At  the  front  entrance 
Mr.  Lincoln  was  placing  his  wife  in  a  carriage.  I  was 
intending  to  pass  without  interrupting  them,  but  he 
saw  us  and  extended  his  hand  cordially.  I  introduced 
Judge  Searles  to  him.  He  repeated  that  he  would  be 
glad  to  see  us  in  the  morning,  bade  us  good-night, 
entered  the  carriage  and  drove  away.  It  was  the  last 
time  I  saw  him  alive. 

"I  have  seen  Mr.  Lincoln,"  said  Judge  Searles,  "I 
have  had  a  good  look  at  him,  and  heard  him  speak. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         191 

That  was  all  I  came  to  Washington  for,  and  I  shall 
return  to  New  York  at  once." 

We  walked  together  rapidly  to  the  depot  of  the 
Baltimore  &  Ohio  Railroad,  which  was  the  only  rail 
road  entering  Washington.  I  walked  back  up  town 
alone,  and  when  I  reached  the  corner  of  Tenth  Street 
and  Pennsylvania  Avenue  I  decided  to  go  to  Ford's 
Theater.  When  I  reached  the  door  I  found  a  large 
crowd  on  the  outside.  They  told  me  the  theater  was 
jammed  so  full  they  couldn't  get  in.  I  gave  it  up,  and 
went  to  the  room  of  Senator  Conness,  which  was  on 
Thirteenth  Street,  between  E  and  F  Streets. 

I  had  been  there  but  a  few  minutes,  when  Senator 
Sumner  of  Massachusetts  came  in.  We  had  been  talk 
ing  fifteen  or  twenty  minutes  when  a  colored  man 
employed  by  Senator  Conness  rushed  excitedly  into  the 
room,  shouting  that  Mr.  Seward  was  assassinated. 

Secretary  Seward  occupied  what  was  afterward 
known  as  the  Elaine  house,  on  the  east  side  of  Lafayette 
Square,  where  a  theater  now  stands.  Conness,  Sumner, 
and  I  started  there  as  fast  as  we  could  go,  and  as  I 
was  a  stronger  man  than  either  of  them,  I  took  the 
lead,  with  Sumner  panting  along  in  the  rear. 

I  rushed  up  Seward's  steps,  and  found  the  front  door 
partially  opened,  pushed  my  way  into  the  hall,  and 
saw  Secretary  McCullough  of  the  Treasury  Depart 
ment,  who  told  me  that  Seward  was  badly  hurt,  and 
that  the  doctor  had  given  orders  to  admit  no  one  to  his 
room,  as  he  needed  all  the  air  it  was  possible  to  give  him. 

Conness,  Sumner,  and  I  then  started  on  a  run  to 
the  White  House,  diagonally  across  the  street.  Two 
soldiers  were  on  duty,  acting  as  guards,  and  marching 
backward  and  forward.  As  we  arrived  one  of  the 
White  House  attaches  came  running  from  Ford's 
Theater  with  the  news  that  the  President  had  been  shot. 
Senator  Conness,  with  great  presence  of  mind,  said : 

"This  is  a  conspiracy  to  murder  the  entire  Cabinet." 


192        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Turning  to  the  soldiers,  he  said,  "Go  immediately  to 
Secretary  Stanton's  house,  and  prevent  his  assassina 
tion,  if  possible." 

The  soldiers  started  off  on  a  double-quick  with  their 
loaded  muskets  on  their  shoulders.  Stanton  resided 
at  that  time  on  the  north  side  of  Franklin  Square.  As 
the  soldiers  approached  his  house  they  saw  a  man  on  his 
steps,  who  had  just  rung  the  bell.  Seeing  them  he 
took  fright  and  ran  away,  and  was  never  afterward 
heard  of.  When  the  soldiers  ran  up  the  steps  Stanton 
himself  had  come  to  the  door,  in  response  to  the  ring. 
Had  the  soldiers  arrived  a  few  minutes  later  I  have  no 
doubt  that  Stanton  also  would  have  been  one  of  the 
victims  of  the  plot. 

Senator  Conness,  Senator  Sumner,  and  I  went  directly 
from  the  White  House  to  the  theater.  We  learned 
that  the  President  had  been  carried  across  the  street, 
and  went  to  the  house.  I  saw  Surgeon-General  Barnes, 
who  told  me  that  Mr.  Lincoln  was  mortally  wounded, 
and  that  too  many  persons  had  already  crowded  into 
his  room. 

"But  you  can  go  in  if  you  insist,"  he  said,  "as  you 
are  a  Senator."  Under  the  circumstances  I  declined. 
Senator  Conness  received  the  same  statement  and 
retired.  Senator  Sumner  did  not  retire,  but  rushed  into 
the  room,  notwithstanding  the  suggestion  of  General 
Barnes,  and  remained  until  the  death  of  the  President. 

"I  will  go  in !"  he  cried.  Nothing  could  keep  Charles 
Sumner  out. 

From  that  time  until  daylight  the  excitement  in 
Washington  was  intense.  There  were  in  the  city  about 
thirty  thousand  Confederate  soldiers,  and  from  sixty 
to  one  hundred  thousand  Federal  soldiers.  In  every 
group  of  men,  and  the  streets  fairly  swarmed,  some  one 
would  constantly  cry  out: 

"Kill  the Rebels;  kill  the  traitors!"  and 

then  the  mob  would  go  tearing  off,  searching  for  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         193 

Confederates,  until  somebody  else  would  climb  upon 
a  flight  of  steps  or  a  tree-box,  and  scream  as  loud  as 
he  could: 

"What  would  Mr.  Lincoln  say  if  he  could  talk  to 
you  ?"  This  argument  never  failed  to  quiet  the  frenzied 
people.  Throughout  that  vast  concourse,  the  whole 
population  of  Washington  tramping  the  streets  all  night 
long,  the  voice  of  violence  would  always  hush  at  the 
mention  of  Lincoln's  name. 

I  walked  the  streets,  caring  very  little  where  I  went, 
and  every  minute  I  expected  to  see  the  Federal  soldiers 
fall  upon  the  unarmed  paroled  Southerners,  and  slay 
them.  A  bloody  battle  which  would  have  shocked 
humanity  was  averted  a  thousand  times  that  night  by 
a  miracle. 

Mr.  Lincoln  died  shortly  after  daylight,  and  within 
ten  minutes  of  the  time  I  met  Senator  Foot,  the  grand 
old  gray-haired  statesman  from  Vermont,  who  was  chair 
man  of  the  Republican  caucus  and  master  of  ceremonies 
in  the  Senate.  He  was  hailing  a  dilapidated  wagon, 
which  had  seen  better  days  as  a  carriage,  in  front  of  the 
Willard  Hotel.  He  put  his  hand  on  my  shoulder  as 
the  news  of  the  President's  death  reached  us,  wafted 
on  a  thousand  excited  tongues,  and  said: 

"We  must  get  the  Chief  Justice  at  once  and  swear 
in  the  Vice-President.  It  will  not  do  in  times  like  these 
to  be  without  a  President." 

We  directed  the  driver  of  the  hack  to  take  us  to  the 
residence  of  Mr.  Chase,  who  lived  in  what  was  then 
known  as  the  Sprague  mansion,  at  the  corner  of  Sixth 
and  E  Streets.  Mr.  Chase  was  in  his  library,  pacing 
back  and  forth,  in  deep  thought.  We  explained  our 
business,  and  he  got  into  the  vehicle  with  us,  and  went 
to  the  old  Kirkwood  House,  on  Pennsylvania  Avenue. 

I  sprang  out,  went  to  the  desk,  and  asked  the  clerk 
what  room  the  Vice-President  occupied. 

"I  will  send  up  your  card,"  he  said. 


194        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

"No,  you  won't,"  I  said;  "I'll  go  up  myself.  We 
want  to  see  him  on  important  business.  Send  a  boy  to 
show  the  way." 

"It  is  on  the  third  floor,"  the  clerk  then  said. 
"Turn  to  the  right  at  the  head  of  the  stairs." 

There  were  no  elevators  in  the  hotels  at  that  time, 
and  we  climbed  the  stairs  laboriously.  A  negro  boy 
showed  us  the  room,  and  I  rapped  on  the  door.  There 
was  no  answer.  I  rapped  again  and  again.  Finally  I 
kicked  the  door,  and  made  a  very  loud  noise.  Then  a 
voice  growled: 

"Who's  there?" 

"Senator  Stewart,"  said  I,  "and  the  Chief  Justice 
and  Senator  Foot  are  with  me.  We  must  see  you 
immediately." 

After  some  little  delay  Johnson  opened  the  door  and 
we  entered.  The  Vice-President  was  in  his  bare  feet, 
and  only  partially  dressed,  as  though  he  had  hurriedly 
drawn  on  a  pair  of  trousers  and  a  shirt.  He  was 
occupying  two  little  rooms  about  ten  feet  square,  and  we 
entered  one  of  them,  a  sitting-room,  while  he  finished 
his  toilet  in  the  other. 

In  a  few  minutes  Johnson  came  in,  putting  on  a  very 
rumpled  coat,  and  presenting  the  appearance  of  a 
drunken  man.  He  was  dirty,  shabby,  and  his  hair 
was  matted,  as  though  with  mud  from  the  gutter,  while 
he  blinked  at  us  through  squinting  eyes,  and  lurched 
around  unsteadily.  He  had  been  on  a  "bender"  for  a 
month.  As  he  came  into  the  room  we  were  all  stand 
ing.  Johnson  felt  for  a  chair  and  sat  down.  Chief 
Justice  Chase  said  very  solemnly: 

"The  President  has  been  assassinated.  He  died  this 
morning.  I  have  come  to  administer  the  oath  of  office 
to  you." 

Johnson  seemed  dazed  at  first.  Then  he  jumped  up, 
thrust  his  right  arm  up  as  far  as  he  could  reach,  and 
said  in  a  thick,  gruff,  hoarse  voice : 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         195 

"I'm  ready." 

The  Chief  Justice  administered  the  oath.     Johnson 
—President  Johnson — went  back  to  his  bedroom,  and 
we  retired. 

There  were  only  three  persons  present  besides  John 
son  when  he  was  sworn  in — Chief  Justice  Chase,  Senator 
Foot,  and  myself.  All  statements  to  the  contrary  are 
absolutely  false.  Although  he  took  the  oath  between 
seven  and  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning,  Johnson  pre 
tended  not  to  have  heard  of  the  assassination.  So  far 
as  I  am  aware  nobody  knows  where  he  spent  the  night, 
although  his  appearance  at  daylight  indicated  clearly 
what  he  had  been  doing. 

The  Kirkwood  House  was  said  by  the  clerks  on  the 
morning  after  the  assassination  to  have  been  the  head 
quarters  of  several  of  the  conspirators.  The  clerks  also 
told  me  that  Johnson  was  friendly  with  them,  and  it 
seems  strange  to  me  that  he  did  not  learn  of  the  assas 
sination  until  informed  by  the  Chief  Justice  and  myself. 

After  leaving  Johnson  I  went  to  Stanton's  house.  As 
I  arrived  his  carriage  was  being  driven  to  his  door,  and 
presently  he  came  down  the  steps.  I  told  him  of  the  con- 
"dition  of  Johnson,  and  said  that  he  must  be  taken  care 
of — the  man  who  had  just  taken  the  oath  of  office  as 
President  of  the  United  States.  Stanton  and  I  were 
driven  back  to  the  Kirkwood  House,  and,  accompanied 
by  the  coachman,  we  went  directly  to  Johnson's  room.. 
He  was  lying  down.  We  aroused  him,  dressed  him  as 
well  as  we  could,  led  him  down  stairs,  and  put  him  in 
Stanton's  carriage.  We  took  him  to  the  White  House, 
and  Stanton  sent  for  a  tailor,  a  barber,  and  a  doctor.  He 
had  a  dose  administered,  and  the  President  was  bathed 
and  shaved,  his  hair  was  cut,  and  a  new  suit  of  clothes 
was  fitted  to  him.  He  did  not,  however,  get  into  a 
condition  to  be  visible  until  late  in  the  afternoon,  when 
a  few  persons  were  permitted  to  see  him  to  satisfy  them 
selves  that  there  was  a  President  in  the  White  House. 


196        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Then  came  a  reign  of  terror.  No  man  dared  to  talk. 
Notwithstanding  the  war  was  over  and  peace  prevailed 
throughout  the  United  States,  by  order  of  President 
Johnson  a  drum-head  court  martial  was  ordered  to  try 
the  conspirators  charged  with  the  murder  of  Mr.  Lin 
coln.  Among  others,  Mrs.  Mary  E.  Surratt  was 
arrested,  tried,  convicted,  and  executed  in  a  summary 
manner.  Andrew  Johnson  appointed  the  officers  who 
constituted  the  court,  approved  their  findings,  and 
signed  the  warrant  for  her  execution.  Any  candid 
person  who  will  review  the  evidence  will  be  forced  to 
the  conclusion  that  she  was  an  innocent  woman. 

The  fact  that  some  of  the  conspirators  occasionally 
visited  her  lodging-house  gave  her  an  opportunity  of 
knowing  something  of  their  movements  and  their  asso 
ciations,  although  she  was  undoubtedly  ignorant  of  the 
conspiracy.  From  these  circumstances  it  is  possible 
that  she  might  have  known  something  of  Johnson's 
associations  which  he  did  not  want  made  public.  Jus 
tice  and  humanity  demanded  for  her  a  fair,  legal,  and 
impartial  trial.  There  was  certainly  something  wrong. 
The  people  at  large  will  never  be  satisfied  with  the 
killing  of  Mrs.  Surratt. 

The  death  of  Mr.  Lincoln  shocked  the  civilized 
world.  People  of  every  land  were  bowed  with  sorrow 
at  the  great  bereavement.  The  country  was  without  a 
trusted  leader,  and  the  work  of  reconstructing  and  har 
monizing  the  several  States  in  the  Union,  which  had 
been  preserved,  required  the  highest  wisdom  and 
patriotism. 

Congress  was  not  in  session.  Andrew  Johnson 
neglected  to  convene  Congress  in  an  emergency  and  to 
consult  the  friends  of  the  Union  with  whom  Mr.  Lin 
coln  had  advised.  Before  Johnson  became  President 
he  lost  no  occasion,  in  season  or  out  of  season,  to 
denounce  the  Rebels.  Between  February  i,  1865,  and 
the  assassination  of  Mr.  Lincoln  he  declared  on  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        197 

steps  of  every  public  building  in  Washington,  and  to 
every  gathering  that  would  listen  to  him,  that  every 
Rebel  ought  to  be  hanged,  and  that  that  was  the  only 
means  of  restoring  the  Union. 

He  was  particularly  vindictive  against  the  social  and 
political  leaders  of  the  South.  He  sprang  from  the 
lower  stratum  of  society,  and  by  great  vigor,  industry, 
and  will  had  occupied  many  honorable  positions.  He 
rose  to  be  Senator  of  the  United  States  and  Vice-Presi- 
dent  against  opposition  of  powerful  leaders. 

When  those  who  had  governed  the  South  and  created 
the  public  opinion  of  that  section  bowed  before  him  as 
President  of  the  United  States,  he  forgot  that  there 
was  a  loyal  North  which  had  prosecuted  the  war  to  a 
successful  termination,  and  which  was  entitled  to  be 
consulted,  and  took  counsel  only  with  the  vanquished. 

He  usurped  the  power  of  Congress  and  undertook 
to  reorganize  the  State  governments  of  the  South  with 
out  legislative  sanction. 

Congress  met  for  the  long  session  on  the  first  Mon 
day  of  December,  1865.  The  Republican  party  had 
more  than  two-thirds  majority  in  each  House,  and 
measures  were  immediately  devised  to  restrain  what  was 
termed  executive  usurpations.  Some  of  the  Southern 
States  which  Andrew  Johnson  had  attempted  to 
rehabilitate  passed  laws  for  the  practical  re-enslavement 
of  the  blacks,  although  the  Thirteenth  Amendment 
abolishing  slavery  had  been  adopted. 

A  Freedmen's  Bureau  had  been  created  during  the 
war  to  provide  for  helpless  colored  people  whom  the 
war  had  set  free.  It  was  also  deemed  necessary  to  pass 
a  law  by  Congress  to  protect  the  colored  people  in  their 
civil  rights. 

Two  bills  were  introduced  early  in  the  session  and 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Judiciary,  of  which 
Lyman  Trumbull,  of  Illinois,  was  chairman,  and  of 
which  I  was  a  member. 


198         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

The  Civil  Rights  bill  was  largely  the  work  of  Sen 
ator  Trumbull,  and  is  substantially  the  law  now  and 
the  statute. 

l      The  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  I  did  not  approve  of  in 

lithe  committee,  although  I  consented  that  it  might  be 

'{reported  to  the  Senate.     It  conferred  too  much  power 

upon  the  commission  charged  with  its  execution  to  be 

administered  with  safety.    There  was  unlimited  power 

given  the  commission  to  purchase  land  for  educational 

purposes.    In  short,  it  was  calculated  to  create  a  bureau 

after  the  model  of  the  Bureau  of  Indian  Affairs,  the 

dishonest  and  extravagant  workings  of  which  had  come 

under  my  observation  in  the  West. 

The  bill,  however,  passed  both  Houses,  notwithstand 
ing  that  to  me  it  possessed  glaring  defects.  President 
Johnson  vetoed  the  bill,  and  I  thought  he  was  right 
in  doing  so.  I  would  gladly  have  supported  his  veto 
if  it  had  not  been  made  plain  to  me  that  the  whole 
country  would  suffer  by  a  conflict  between  the  President 
and  Congress. 

The  President  sent  for  me  the  evening  before  the 
vote  was  to  be  taken  in  the  Senate  on  his  message  veto 
ing  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill.  Under  the  circum 
stances  I  desired  the  presence  of  a  third  party  to  the 
interview  I  was  about  to  have  with  the  President. 

Representative  Horn  of  Missouri  was  as  anxious  as 
I  was  to  avoid  what  seemed  to  be  an  inevitable  con 
flict  between  the  executive  and  legislative  branches  of 
the  Government.  I  told  him  that  the  President  had 
sent  for  me,  and  I  invited  him  to  accompany  me  to  the 
Executive  Mansion  that  evening.  He  accepted  the  invi 
tation.  We  found  the  President  in  his  office  at  eight 
o'clock,  the  appointed  hour. 

He  began  the  conversation  by  saying  to  me  that  he 
had  been  informed  that  I  did  not  approve  of  many  of 
the  provisions  in  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  which  he 
had  vetoed,  and  asked  me  if  that  was  so.  I  told  him 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         199 

that  it  was.  He  then  asked  me  if  I  could  not  con 
scientiously  sustain  his  veto.  I  told  him  I  could  if  his 
veto  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  was  the  only  ques 
tion  involved.  My  constituents,  I  said,  believed  that 
the  victorious  Union  party  as  represented  in  Congress 
should  have  a  controlling  influence  in  the  rehabilita 
tion  of  the  States;  that  if  I  should  vote  to  sustain  his 
veto  I  never  could  explain  to  my  people  that  I  did  so 
on  account  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill,  and  that  they 
would  believe  I  had  surrendered  the  cause  of  the  Union 
to  those  who  had  conspired  to  destroy  it.  I  also  told 
him  that  Congress  had  passed  another  bill,  which  I 
helped  prepare,  and  every  provision  of  which  I 
approved,  and  that  bill  was  known  as  the  Civil  Rights 
bill.  I  said: 

"Mr.  President,  you  have  that  bill  before  you.  The 
party  that  was  instrumental  in  abolishing  slavery  feels 
responsible  for  the  protection  of  the  slave,  and  if  that 
bill  should  become  a  law,  with  your  approval,  the  coun 
try  would  not  believe  you  vetoed  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  bill  on  partisan  grounds.  On  the  contrary,  they 
would  read  your  message  on  the  Freedmen's  Bureau 
bill  and  would  not  regard  it  as  a  partisan  veto." 

Mr.  Horn  remarked  that  the  people  thought  much 
more  of  the  Civil  Rights  bill  than  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  bill.  It  was  easy  to  amend  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  bill  to  obviate  the  objections  in  the  President's 
message,  but  the  veto  of  the  Civil  Rights  bill  would 
produce  an  impassable  gulf  between  Congress  and  the 
Executive. 

"Mr.  President,"  I  said,  "I  have  no  right  to  demand 
of  you  to  tell  me  whether  you  will  veto  or  sign  the 
Civil  Rights  bill ;  but  if  you  are  to  veto  it,  I  must  vote  to 
pass  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  over  your  veto.  You 
may  not  be  aware  of  it,  but  I  have  the  deciding  vote 
and  can  determine  the  question." 

He  assured  me  by  all  that  he  held  sacred  that  if  his 


200         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

veto  of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  was  sustained  he 
would  sign  the  Civil  Rights  bill. 

This  conversation  lasted  three  hours,  and  he  repeated 
four  or  five  times  his  assurance  that  he  would  sign  the 
Civil  Rights  bill.  Accompanying  us  to  the  door,  he 
shook  hands  with  Mr.  Horn  and  myself  as  we  left. 
His  final  words  were  that  we  need  have  no  anxiety, 
that  he  would  sign  the  Civil  Rights  bill  as  he  had 
promised. 

The  next  day  about  half-past  two  o'clock  the  vote 
was  taken  on  the  President's  veto  of  the  Freedmen's 
Bureau  bill  and  the  veto  was  sustained.  Within  ten 
minutes  of  the  time  of  the  announcement  of  the  vote 
sustaining  the  veto,  a  message  was  received  from 
the  President  announcing  his  veto  of  the  Civil 
Rights  bill. 

I  never  spoke  to  Johnson  after  that  deception  but 
once.  In  1875  I  retired  from  the  Senate,  and  soon 
after  Johnson  was  elected  Senator  from  Tennessee. 
While  I  was  in  the  Senate  I  paid  several  visits  to  the 
Deaf  and  Dumb  Asylum,  and  found  there  a  boy  of 
great  brightness.  I  secured  for  him  a  clerkship  in  the 
Patent  Office.  On  a  visit  to  Washington  later  I  went 
to  the  Patent  Office  to  see  the  boy.  I  talked  with  the 
Commissioner  and  learned  that  he  was  one  of  the  most 
efficient  clerks  in  the  bureau,  and  that  he  deserved 
promotion.  I  went  to  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior 
and  asked  for  his  advancement.  While  I  was  pleading 
his  cause,  Andrew  Johnson  was  sitting  behind  me. 
I  did  not  know  he  was  there  until  he  spoke 
up,  saying: 

"Being  deaf  and  dumb  is  no  reason  for  promotion. 
God  Almighty  knows  how  to  mark  men." 

I  lost  my  temper  and  came  very  near  losing  my 
senses.  I  sprang  at  Johnson,  intending  to  make  an 
impression  on  his  flesh,  if  no  impression  could  be  made 
upon  his  sense  of  right  and  wrong.  He  jumped  behind 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         201 

the  Secretary,  and  four  or  five  clerks  rushed  up  and  got 
between  us.  He  went  out  of  the  room  with  as  little 
delay  as  possible. 

The  world  will  never  know  the  extent  of  the  mis 
fortune  to  the  people  of  the  United  States,  particularly 
to  the  South,  sustained  by  the  substitution  of  Andrew 
Johnson  for  Abraham  Lincoln.  Lincoln  was  the  wisest, 
kindest,  most  impartial,  and  just  man  I  ever  knew; 
Johnson  was  the  most  untruthful,  treacherous,  and  cruel 
person  who  ever  held  place  of  power  in  the  United 
States.  I  vqfed  to  fappeach  him,  and  I  would  do  it  again. 


CHAPTER   XXI 

The  War  Senate— Pen  pictures  of  the  great  leaders  of  the  nation— 
Thad.  Stevens  and  his  domestic  scandal — Conkling  and  Elaine, 
and  Congressional  jealousies — The  corpse  was  dry — Senator 
McDougall's  tribute  to  whiskey. 

When  I  entered  the  United  States  Senate,  Hannibal 
Hamlin  was  Vice-President.  After  I  had  presented  my 
credentials  he  greeted  me  cordially,  and  explained  the 
method  of  doing  business.  He  was  plain  and  his  mode 
of  life  was  simple,  but  he  was  a  man  of  robust  intellect 
and  strong  common  sense.  Lot  M.  Morrill  was  then 
Senator  from  Maine,  a  wise  and  useful  man.  Penn 
sylvania  was  represented  by  Buckalew  and  Cowan,  who 
were  then  the  leaders  of  the  Democrats  in  the  Senate. 
Jacob  Collamer  and  Solomon  Foot  were  the  Senators 
from  Vermont.  Collamer  was  a  great  lawyer,  strong 
and  influential  in  debate.  Foot  was  a  man  of  dignity 
of  character,  and  presided  over  the  Senate  caucus  and 
occupied  the  chair  in  the  absence  of  the  Vice-President. 

Doolittle  and  Howe  were  Senators  from  Wiscon 
sin,  and  were  both  able  and  influential.  Howe  held  the 
first  place  in  the  confidence  of  his  constituents  during 
his  whole  life,  but  Doolittle  subsequently  fell  under  a 
cloud  by  adhering  to  Andrew  Johnson.  Reverdy  John 
son  of  Maryland  was  the  most  distinguished  man  in  the 
Senate.  He  was  a  Democrat,  but  a  reasonable  one. 
If  Andrew  Johnson  had  taken  his  advice  he  would  have 
cooperated  with  Congress  and  the  South  would  have 
been  relieved  from  the  worst  evils  of  reconstruction. 

John  P.  Hale  was  a  veteran  Senator  from  New 
Hampshire,  abounding  in  good  sense,  good  nature,  and 
repartee.  His  debates  during  the  long  controversy  in 
the  Senate  over  the  slavery  question  previous  to  the 
Civil  War  had  made  his  name  a  household  word.  Ira 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         203 

Harris  and  E.  D.  Morgan  represented  the  great  State 
of  New  York;  they  were  men  of  high  character  and 
usefulness. 

John  Sherman  and  Benjamin  F.  Wade  were  the  Sena 
tors  from  Ohio.  Sherman  was  shrewd,  cunning,  and 
unscrupulous.  Wade  was  brave,  blunt,  and  honest. 
Lafayette  S.  Foster  and  James  Dixon  were  the  Senators 
from  Connecticut.  Foster  was  a  fine  lawyer  and  a 
leading  Senator,  while  Dixon  was  a  modest,  useful  man, 
and  a  trusted  member  of  the  Democratic  party.  Lyman 
Trumbull  was  from  Illinois.  He  was  chairman  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee,  a  great  lawyer,  strong  debater, 
and  a  prominent  member  of  the  Senate.  James  W. 
Grimes  and  James  Harlan  were  the  Senators  from  Iowa. 
They  were  both  able  and  influential.  James  H.  Lane 
and  Samuel  C.  Pomeroy  were  Senators  from  Kansas. 

One  of  the  most  constant  and  continuous  debaters 
was  Garrett  Davis  of  Kentucky.  He  was  a  strictly 
honest  man,  and  a  dyed-in-the-wool  Democrat.  He  con 
fidently  believed  that  everything  could  be  accomplished 
and  anything  solved  through  the  principles  of  the 
Democratic  party;  exactly  what  those  principles  were 
he  was  unable  to  explain  to  the  satisfaction  of  others 
during  the  Civil  War. 

William  Pitt  Fessenden  of  Maine  was  a  marked 
character.  He  left  the  Senate  on  July  i,  1864,  to 
accept  the  office  of  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  made 
vacant  by  the  appointment  of  Salmon  P.  Chase  to  the 
office  of  Chief  Justice,  and  held  it  until  March  4,  1865, 
when  he  returned  to  the  Senate.  He  was  in  the  Senate 
Chamber  when  I  first  entered  to  take  my  seat,  and  I 
was  introduced  to  him.  He  was,  without  question,  the 
ablest  debater  on  the  floor.  When  Congress  met  in 
December,  1865,  a  joint  Committee  of  Fifteen  was 
created,  five  from  the  Senate  and  ten  from  the  House 
of  Representatives.  Fessenden  and  Thaddeus  Stevens 
were  the  two  chairmen. 


204        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Thaddeus  Stevens  was  one  of  the  most  remarkable 
men  the  United  States  has  produced.  He  was  born  in 
Vermont,  the  4th  of  April,  1792,  and  died  in  Wash 
ington  on  the  nth  of  August,  1868.  From  the  time 
of  the  outbreak  of  the  war  until  his  death  he  was  the 
unquestioned  leader  of  the  House  of  Representatives. 
He  carried  nearly  every  measure  he  advocated,  and  was 
rarely,  if  ever,  defeated. 

He  suffered,  however,  a  remarkable  defeat  from  the 
action  of  the  Senate  soon  after  actual  hostilities  began. 
He  was  almost  the  only  man  in  either  house  of  Con 
gress  who  had  a  clear  idea  of  the  money  question.  As 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Ways  and  Means  he 
framed  and  passed  a  bill  through  the  House  creating 
legal-tender  money,  and  also  providing  for  the  issuance 
of  long-time  bonds,  the  principal  payable  in  coin,  but 
the  interest  payable  in  legal-tender  paper  money.  The 
Senate  committee,  through  the  influence  of  stock-job 
bers  of  Wall  Street,  reversed  the  order  of  payment  and 
made  the  interest  of  the  bonds  payable  in  coin  and  the 
principal  payable  in  lawful  money.  This  created  an 
immediate  demand  for  coin,  to  supply  which  customs 
dues  were  made  payable  in  coin.  The  Finance  Com 
mittee  reported  the  bill  and  it  was  passed  by  the  Sen 
ate.  When  the  Conference  Committee  was  appointed 
the  struggle  was  long  and  desperate.  The  stock-job 
bers  and  John  Sherman,  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  would  not  yield.  The  soldiers  must  be  paid 
and  supplies  must  be  bought  for  the  war.  Thaddeus 
Stevens  was  bound  to  submit.. 

He  reported  his  defeat  to  the  House  in  tears,  declar 
ing  that  it  would  cost  the  Government  of  the  United 
States  thousands  of  millions  of  dollars.  His  prediction 
was  correct.  The  week  after  the  bill  was  passed  a  gold 
board  was  formed  in  New  York,  and  the  soldiers  in 
the  field  were  compelled  to  take  depreciated  money ;  and 
while  they  faced  the  enemy  in  front,  the  gold  gamblers 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         205 

of  New  York  kept  up   a  constant  firing  in  the  rear. 

During  the  winter  of  1865-6  I  had  a  room  in 
a  house  adjoining  the  house  occupied  by  Thaddeus 
Stevens,  on  New  Jersey  Avenue,  near  the  Capitol.  He 
was  never  married,  and  the  reason  assigned  by  his  old 
Pennsylvania  friends  was  his  sensitiveness  on  account 
of  a  club  foot.  He  never  went  in  society,  but  had  a 
mulatto  woman  for  a  housekeeper,  who  lived  with  him 
in  the  house,  which  created  some  scandal;  but  that 
made  no  difference  to  Mr.  Stevens,  because  no  one  dare 
criticise  him  in  his  presence. 

I  very  frequently  would  spend  an  evening  in  Stevens's 
house  playing  cards.  He  was  a  very  superior  euchre 
player,  and  intensely  fond  of  the  game.  Other  mem 
bers  of  the  House,  and  a  Senator  or  so,  would  drop 
in  for  several  hours,  when  a  wide  range  of  subjects 
would  be  discussed. 

On  these  occasions  the  mulatto  woman,  whom,  as  I 
recollect,  "Old  Thad"  called  May,  and  of  whom  he 
seemed  to  be  quite  fond,  would  prepare  the  table  for 
us,  fix  the  lights,  bring  in  a  lunch,  and  do  other  neces 
sary  things.  I  did  not  inquire  into  Stevens's  domestic 
relations  very  closely,  but  I  believe  it  was  the  gen 
eral  opinion  that  his  regard  for  May  was  not  entirely 
platonic.  The  influence  of  this  colored  mistress,  I 
believe,  was  largely  the  cause  of  Stevens's  bitter  ani 
mosity  to  Southern  whites. 

He  was  sixty-nine  years  old  when  the  war  began, 
and  at  that  age  possessed  all  the  vigor  and  courage  of 
youth,  coupled  with  the  experience  of  years.  He  had 
a  way  of  silencing  an  opponent  with  a  single  phrase. 
Henry  J.  Raymond,  the  founder  of  the  New  York 
Times,  a  man  of  great  reputation  and  ambition,  was 
elected  to  the  House  of  Representatives.  Several  ques 
tions  arose  which  Raymond  took  occasion  to  avoid, 
remaining  non-committal.  Raymond  desired  to  leave 
town  on  one  occasion  and  wanted  a  pair.  He  finally 


206         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

appealed  to  his  friends  on  the  floor  to  furnish  him  a 
pair.  "Old  Thad"  looked  around  sarcastically  and 
remarked  that  he  did  not  understand  that  the  gentle 
man  from  New  York  was  asking  for  a  pair;  he  had 
observed  that  that  gentleman  found  no  difficulty  in 
pairing  with  himself.  The  House  roared  and  Raymond 
was  out. 

Conkling  and  Elaine  were  then  members  of  the 
House,  both  ambitious  and  full  of  fight;  but  neither  of 
them  ever  made  a  pass  at  uOld  Thad."  They  were, 
however,  very  jealous  of  each  other,  and  whenever  I 
heard  they  were  going  to  have  a  personal  controversy 
I  went  over  to  the  House  to  hear  them  spar.  Their 
debates  were  historic,  and  prevented  each  of  them  from 
ever  occupying  the  Presidential  chair.  Conkling  was 
the  more  dignified  and  commanding,  but  Elaine  more 
aggravating  and  personal.  On  one  occasion  he  likened 
Conkling'  to  a  strutting  turkey-gobbler.  The  House 
slightly  hissed;  but  on  the  whole  that  debate  was 
regarded  as  a  draw,  and  entered,  directly  or  indirectly, 
into  every  national  election  which  thereafter  occurred 
during  the  life  of  the  two  combatants.  Conkling  came 
to  the  Senate  in  1867,  made  many  strong  friends,  and 
some  bitter  enemies.  I  had  the  honor  to  be  one  of  his 
particular  friends  whom  he  frequently  consulted.  The 
great  fault  of  his  whole  life  was  his  inability  to  forgive 
an  enemy,  or  even  to  pass  him  by  without  a  kick. 

Elaine  was  more  conciliatory  and  politic,  which  gave 
him  many  advantages  over  his  enemies;  but  Conkling 
had  a  larger  State  behind  him  and  was  able  to  keep 
Elaine  out  of  the  White  House.  Conkling,  notwith 
standing  his  pugnacious  disposition,  was  a  kind  and 
indulgent  friend,  constantly  doing  good  to  those  whom 
he  deemed  worthy.  His  power  in  debate  was  unequaled 
in  the  Senate,  and  after  he  left  that  body  he  made  a 
fortune  in  a  few  years  practicing  law.  His  honesty  was 
never  questioned. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        207 

James  A.  McDougall,  who  was  Senator  from  Cali 
fornia  at  the  time  I  entered  that  body,  was  a  remark 
able  character.  He  had  practiced  law  at  the  bar  in 
Illinois  with  Mr.  Lincoln,  and  they  were  warm  personal 
friends.  He  was  a  man  of  great  learning,  not  alone 
in  his  profession,  being  familiar  with  history  and  the 
classics;  but  unfortunately  after  he  went  to  the  Senate 
he  fell  a  victim  to  alcoholic  drink  and  said  and  did  many 
queer  things. 

One  night  he  fell  into  a  sewer  which  was  being 
excavated  in  front  of  Seward's  house.  A  policeman 
saw  him  fall  in  and  asked  him  who  he  was. 

"Why,  get  me  out,"  said  McDougall;  "I  am 
Seward." 

Once  he  was  going  to  New  York.  At  that  time  the 
railroad  went  around  Philadelphia,  and  carriages  could 
be  taken  across,  giving  passengers  some  additional  time. 
McDougall  got  out  of  the  car  pretty  well  loaded  and 
saw  the  other  passengers  taking  carriages.  He  observed 
a  hearse  nearby  and  crawled  inside.  Two  men  were 
on  the  box,  but  did  not  know  that  a  Senator  was  a  pas 
senger.  After  driving  a  few  blocks  they  stopped  at 
a  saloon  to  take  a  drink.  The  driver  couldn't  leave 
the  horses,  so  the  other  man  went  in  and  brought  him 
out  a  mug  of  beer.  McDougall  heard  what  was  going 
on,  saw  the  beer,  and  stuck  his  head  out  and  said: 

uHey!    The  corpse  is  dry." 

He  finally  got  in  the  habit  of  coming  into  the  Senate 
very  drunk,  and  Sumner  of  Massachusetts  prepared 
a  resolution  to  expel  him,  and  showed  it  to  me,  know 
ing  I  was  a  friend  of  McDougall.  I  begged  of  Sumner 
not  to  introduce  it,  and  went  to  Mr.  Lincoln  and  asked 
him  to  tell  Sumner  not  to  introduce  the  resolution  of 
expulsion,  which  the  President  did. 

One  night  in  February,  1865,  just  before  the  close 
of  the  war,  there  was  a  bill  pending  which  Ben  Wade 
and  others  were  very  anxious  to  pass.  The  Democrats 


208         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

were  vigorously  opposing  it.  It  was  Saturday  night. 
About  midnight  some  one  moved  to  adjourn,  where 
upon  Senator  Wade  became  quite  violent  and  said  that 
the  "Better  the  day,  the  better  the  deed."  He  said  his 
God  would  approve  of  passing  that  bill  on  Sunday. 

McDougall  had  been  lying  with  his  head  on  his 
desk,  and  was  supposed  to  be  oblivious  to  what  was 
going  on.  Finally  I  observed  he  was  trying  to  get  up. 
Vice-President  Hamlin  was  in  the  chair,  and  knowing 
that  whenever  McDougall  got  on  his  feet,  drunk  or 
sober,  he  would  say  something  sensible,  kindly  waited 
till  he  could  straighten  up.  At  first  his  voice  was  weak, 
but  it  grew  stronger  as  he  proceeded. 

He  said  that  in  India  the  Hindoos  had  two  gods, 
the  God  of  Evil  and  the  God  of  Good,  and  explained 
at  length  the  bad  qualities  of  the  Evil  God  and  then 
the  good  qualities  of  the  Good  God,  and  remarked  in 
conclusion  that  the  Good  God  was  his  God  and  the 
Bad  God  was  the  God  of  the  Senator  from  Ohio.  He 
said  his  God  was  in  favor  of  adjournment,  and  he 
moved  that  the  Senate  adjourn.  I  don't  remember 
whether  the  Senate  indorsed  McDougall's  God  or 
Wade's  God. 

In  April,  1866,  Senator  Henry  Wilson  introduced  a 
resolution  to  exclude  whiskey  from  the  Senate  end  of 
the  Capitol.  About  the  middle  of  the  month  it  came 
up  for  consideration,  and  a  pretty  lively  debate  ensued. 
A  considerable  number  of  Senators  liked  their  toddy 
about  that  time,  and  I  suppose  conditions  haven't 
changed  much  since.  Anyhow,  whiskey  had  some 
friends,  among  them  that  earnest  champion,  Senator 
McDougall. 

McDougall  was  present  while  the  fight  was  in  prog 
ress,  but  apparently  displayed  no  interest  in  the  pro 
ceedings.  He  was  dozing  over  his  desk,  and  it  was 
supposed  that  he  was  too  happy  to  know  what  was 
transpiring,  but  by-and-by  he  sat  up  and  found  out  what 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        209 

was  going  on,  dragged  himself  together  and  sailed  in, 
and  delivered  a  classical  speech  on  the  good  qualities 
and  virtues  of  whiskey,  and  the  superiority  of  the  men 
who  drank  it  over  those  who  didn't,  which,  I  suppose, 
is  the  most  finished  and  sincere  tribute  ever  paid  to 
alcohol. 

He  described  the  hard-faced,  ungenerous,  selfish 
temperance  advocate,  with  a  disposition  like  potter's 
field,  and  the  jolly,  whole-souled,  liberal,  agreeable 
companion  who  liked  the  inspiration  of  strong  drink, 
until  there  wasn't  a  Senator  present  who  wasn't  ashamed 
of  himself  for  ever  thinking  of  turning  whiskey  out 
of  the  Capitol,  and  who  didn't  consider  himself  lucky 
that  he  hadn't  acted  in  haste. 

"Mr.  President,"  said  McDougall,  rising  gravely 
and  turning  a  serious  face  upon  the  Senate,  while  every 
body  sat  up  and  took  notice,  because  McDougall  could 
talk.  "Mr.  President:  It  was  once  said  that  there 
are  as  many  minds  as  men,  and  there  is  no  end  of 
wrangling.  I  had  occasion,  some  years  since,  to  dis 
course  with  a  reverend  doctor  of  divinity  from  the 
State  which  has  the  honor  to  be  the  birthplace,  I  think, 
of  the  present  President  of  this  body.  While  I  was 
discoursing  with  him  a  lot  of  vile  rapscallions  invited 
me  to  join  them  at  the  bar.  I  declined,  out  of  respect 
to  the  reverend  gentleman  in  whose  presence  I  then  was. 
As  soon  as  the  occasion  had  passed,  I  remarked  to  the 
reverend  doctor: 

"  'Do  not  understand  that  I  declined  to  go  and  join 
those  young  men  at  the  bar  because  I  have  any  objec 
tion  to  that  thing,  for  it  is  my  habit  to  drink  always  in 
the  front  and  not  behind  the  door.' 

"He  looked  at  me  with  a  certain  degree  of  interroga 
tion.  I  then  asked  him : 

"  'Doctor,  what  was  the  first  miracle  worked  by  our 
great  Master?' 

"He  hesitated,  and  I  said  to  him: 

14 


210        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

'Was  it  not  at  Cana  in  Galilee,  where  he  con 
verted  the  water  into  wine,  at  a  marriage  feast?'  He 
assented.  I  asked  him  then : 

"  'After  the  ark  had  floated  on  the  tempestuous  seas 
for  forty  days  and  nights,  and  as  it  descended  upon  the 
dry  land,  what  was  the  first  thing  done  by  Father 
Noah?'  He  did  not  know  exactly. 

'Well,'    said  I,  'did  he  not  plant  a  vine?' 

"  'Yes,'  he  remembered  it  then.    I  asked  him: 

'  'Do  you  remember  any  great  poet  that  ever  illus 
trated  the  higher  fields  of  humanity  that  did  not  dignify 
the  use  of  wine,  from  old  Homer  down  ?'  He  did  not. 
I  asked: 

"  'Do  you  know  of  any  great  philosopher  that  did 
not  use  it  for  the  exaltation  of  his  intelligence?  Do 
you  think,  Doctor,  that  a  man  who  lived  upon  pork, 
and  beef,  and  cornbread,  could  get  up  into  the  supe 
rior  region — into  the  ethereal?'  No,  he  must 

"  Take  nectar  on  high  Olympus 
And  mighty  mead  in  Valhalla.' 

"I  said  to  him  again:  'Doctor,  you  are  a  scholarly 
man  of  course — a  doctor  of  divinity — a  graduate  of 
Yale.  Do  you  remember  Plato's  Symposium?'  Yes, 
he  remembered  that.  I  referred  him  to  the  occasion 
when  Agatho,  having  won  the  prize  of  Tragedy  at  the 
Olympic  Games  at  Corinth,  on  coming  back  to  Athens 
was  feted  by  the  nobility  and  aristocracy  of  that  city, 
for  it  was  a  proud  triumph  to  Athens  to  win  the  prize 
of  Tragedy.  They  got  together,  at  the  house  of 
Phaedrus,  and  they  said,  'Now,  we  have  been  every 
night  for  these  last  six  nights  drunk;  let  us  be  sober 
to-night,  and  we  will  start  a  theme,'  which  they  passed 
around  the  table  as  the  sun  goes  round,  or  as  they 
drink  their  wine,  or  as  men  tell  a  story. 

"They  started  a  theme,  and  the  theme  was  love- 
not  love  in  the  vulgar  sense,  but  in  its  high  sense— 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         211 

love  of  all  that  is  beautiful.  After  they  had  gone 
through,  and  after  Socrates  had  pronounced  his  judg 
ment  about  the  true  and  beautiful,  in  came  Alcibiades 
with  a  drunken  body  of  Athenian  boys  with  garlands 
around  their  heads  to  crown  Agatho  and  crown  old 
Socrates,  and  they  said  to  those  assembled:  'This  will 
not  do ;  we  have  been  drinking,  and  you  have  not' ;  and 
after  Alcibiades  had  made  his  talk  in  pursuance  of  the 
argument  in  which  he  undertook  to  dignify  Socrates, 
as  I  remember  it,  they  required  (after  the  party  had 
agreed  to  drink,  it  being  quite  late  in  the  evening,  and 
they  had  finished  their  business  in  the  way  of  discus 
sion)  that  Socrates  should  drink  two  measures  for 
every  other  man's  one,  because  he  was  better  able  to 
stand  it. 

"And  so,  one  after  another,  they  were  laid  down 
on  the  lounges  in  the  Athenian  style,  all  except  an  old 
physician  named  Aristodemus,  and  Plato  makes  him 
the  hardest-headed  fellow  except  Socrates.  He  and 
Socrates  stuck  at  it  until  the  gray  of  the  morning,  and 
then  Socrates  took  his  bath  and  went  down  to  the 
groves  and  talked  academic  knowledge. 

"After  citing  this  incident,  I  said  to  this  divine,  'Do 
you  remember  that  Lord  Bacon  said  that  a  man  should 
get  drunk  at  least  once  a  month,  and  that  Montaigne, 
the  French  philosopher,  indorsed  the  proposition?' 

"These  exaltants  that  bring  us  up  above  the  common 
measure  of  the  brute, — wine  and  oil, — elevate  us, 
enable  us  to  seize  great  facts,  inspirations,  which,  once 
possessed,  are  ours  forever;  and  those  who  never  go 
beyond  the  mere  beastly  means  of  animal  support  never 
live  in  the  high  planes  of  life,  and  cannot  achieve  them. 
I  believe  in  women,  wine,  whiskey,  and  war." 

After  being  interrupted  by  Senator  Wilson,  Mr. 
McDougall  interjected: 

"Will  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  allow  me  to 
make  one  remark?  I  forgot  to  add  that  the  reverend 


212         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

doctor  said  to  me,  'Well,  General,  you  are  right;  but  I 
cannot  afford  to  say  it.'  ' 
That  resolution  went  over.* 

*Cong.  Globe,  ist  Session,  3Qth  Cong.,  Part  II,  pp.  1877,  1878. 


CHAPTER  XXII 

Slavery — Plans  of  reconstruction — Congress  in  confusion — The 
breach  with  Johnson  widens — A  consultation  with  Alexander  H. 
Stephens — Senate  debates — Dark  days  after  the  war — Governor 
Andrew  of  Massachusetts  endorses  my  amendment. 

The  fact  that  all  civilized  people  are  the  descendants 
of  slaves  or  slave  masters  convinced  me  that  prejudices 
growing  out  of  slavery  would  soon  disappear,  and  that 
fraternal  relations  would  then  be  restored  among  peo 
ple  of  a  common  country. 

I  was  desirous  of  some  plan  of  reconciliation,  because 
no  civilization  ever  had  a  commencement  without 
enforced  labor,  and  it  was  enforced  labor  which  made 
labor  of  any  kind  possible. 

Wild  men  roaming  without  local  habitations  must 
first  be  tamed  before  they  can  be  civilized.  A  powerful 
savage  first  subjects  his  less  powerful  friends  or  neigh 
bors  to  a  condition  of  slavery,  and  compels  them  to 
work  and  support  him  by  tillage  of  the  soil  and  other 
labor.  He  cannot  compel  others  to  cease  roaming  and 
to  work  without  his  personal  supervision.  Such  personal 
supervision  compels  the  slave  master  to  remain  with  his 
slaves  and  maintain  a  local  habitation. 

Previous  to  the  discovery  of  America  slavery  was 
practiced  throughout  the  world,  and  the  practice  was 
justified  by  the  wise,  benevolent,  and  humane  of  all  ages 
and  all  countries. 

I  listened  to  debates  in  my  boyhood  upon  the  ques 
tion  of  slavery  between  most  devout  Christian  people, 
and  it  was  demonstrated  to  my  satisfaction  that  the 
Bible  itself  approved  of  human  bondage.  It  was  not 
until  after  the  Reformation,  some  four  hundred  years 
ago,  that  the  right  of  man  to  own  his  fellow-man  was 
questioned.  In  fact,  no  serious  discussion  of  the  right 


214         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

of  slavery  took  place  in  any  part  of  the  world  until  after 
the  American  Revolution. 

It  is  true  that  the  Puritan  Fathers  who  settled  New 
England  might  not  have  been  so  much  addicted  to  prop 
erty  in  man  as  the  Cavaliers  who  settled  in  the  South; 
but  our  Puritan  ancestors  were  leaders  in  the  African 
slave  trade,  and  the  ships  of  New  England  imported 
from  Africa  into  the  Southern  States  a  large  majority 
of  the  ancestors  of  the  vast  slave  population  which 
existed  at  the  breaking  out  of  the  war. 

The  great  parliamentary  struggles  which  agitated 
England  for  more  than  two  centuries  developed  in  that 
country  the  love  of  liberty  which  induced  the  Mother 
Country  to  abolish  slavery  in  all  her  dominions.  The 
movement  spread  to  the  North  until  the  abolition  of 
slavery  became  both  a  religious  and  political  sentiment, 
which  I  had  no  doubt  would  ultimately  extend  all  over 
the  United  States. 

I  did  not  blame  the  Southern  people  for  adhering 
to  an  institution  older  than  history  and  sanctioned  by 
the  great  and  good  of  all  preceding  generations.  They 
believed  that  they  were  right,  and  fought  bravely  for 
their  homes  and  their  property. 

The  war  abolished  slavery  and  removed  the  bar 
rier  to  Union  and  cooperation  between  the  North  and 
the  South.  Abraham  Lincoln,  the  wisest  and  best  man 
I  ever  knew,  who  bore  the  burden  and  heat  of  the  war, 
and  on  whom  the  people  relied  for  restoration  of  the 
Union,  fell  at  the  hand  of  the  assassin. 

When  Congress  met  in  December,  1865,  confusion, 
suspicion,  and  distrust  prevailed  throughout  the  coun 
try.  A  joint  Committee  of  Fifteen  was  created,  five 
from  the  Senate  and  ten  from  the  House,  to  consider 
all  questions  relating  to  the  rehabilitation  of  the  States. 
I  saw  from  day  to  day  the  breach  between  Congress 
and  President  Johnson  widening,  and  all  the  animosities 
of  the  war  revived.  I  believed  then,  and  still  believe, 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         215 

that  if  Congress,  without  regard  to  the  exasperating 
shortcomings  of  Andrew  Johnson, — and  they  were 
many, — had  proposed  a  plan  of  reconciliation  and 
reconstruction,  the  South  would  have  accepted  it. 

After  consulting  with  many  patriotic  men,  both 
North  and  South,  I  introduced  in  the  Senate  the  follow 
ing  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution: 

SECTION  I.  All  discriminations  among  the  people  because  of  race, 
color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude,  either  in  civil  rights,  or 
the  right  of  suffrage,  are  prohibited;  but  the  States  may  exempt 
persons  now  voters  from  restrictions  on  suffrage  hereafter  imposed. 

SEC.  2,.  Obligations  incurred  in  aid  of  insurrection  or  of  war 
against  the  Union  and  claims  for  compensation  for  slaves  emanci 
pated  are  void  and  shall  not  be  assumed  or  paid  by  any  State  or 
the  United  States. 

Resolved  by  the  Senate  and  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
United  States  of  America  in  Congress  Assembled,  That  whenever 
any  one  of  the  eleven  States  whose  inhabitants  were  lately  in  insur 
rection,  through  a  legislature  elected  by  a  constituency  restricted 
in  the  right  of  suffrage  only  by  such  laws  as  existed  in  such  State 
in  1860,  shall  have  ratified  the  foregoing  amendments  to  the  Con 
stitution  of  the  United  States,  and  shall  have  modified  its  consti 
tution  and  laws  in  conformity  therewith,  then,  and  in  that  case,  such 
State  shall  be  recognized  as  having  fully  and  validly  resumed  its 
former  relations  with  this  Government,  and  its  chosen  representa 
tives  shall  be  admitted  into  the  two  Houses  of  the  National  Legis 
lature,  and  a  general  amnesty  shall  exist  in  regard  to  all  persons 
in  such  State  who  were  in  any  way  connected  with  armed  opposi 
tion  to  the  Government  of  the  United  States,  wholly  relieving 
.them  from  all  pains,  penalties,  or  disabilities  to  which  they  may 
have  become  liable  by  reason  of  their  connection  with  said  in 
surrection. 

Alexander  H.  Stephens,  the  former  Vice-President 
of  the  Confederacy,  was  in  Washington  at  that  time. 
I  regarded  him  as  the  most  intellectual  man  in  the 
South,  and  wanted  to  submit  my  plan  to  him.  He  was 
stopping  at  the  old  National  Hotel,  and  I  visited  him 
in  his  room  there. 

"If  that  amendment  could  be  adopted,"  said  he,  "it 
would  be  the  best  possible  settlement.  The  States  would 


216        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

be  restored  at  once  and  they  could  make  such  educa 
tional  and  property  qualifications  as  would  exclude  all 
who  were  not  qualified  to  vote,  both  black  and  white; 
but  any  public  statement  of  mine  would  injure  the 
chances  of  any  settlement." 

Upon  the  introduction  of  my  resolution  I  made  the 
following  remarks  in  the  Senate:* 

MR.  PRESIDENT:  I  ask  leave  to  say  a  few  words  in  explanation. 
I  want  the  joint  resolution  printed  and  referred  to  the  Committee 
on  Reconstruction,  but  before  that  question  is  put,  I  ask  unanimous 
consent  to  say  a  few  words.  I  have  been  a  careful  observer  of  the 
current  events  since  Congress  assembled,  and  I  have  come  to  .the 
conclusion  that  a  proposition  of  this  kind  corresponds  with  the 
prevailing  sentiment  in  Congress  and  also  in  the  country  as  indi 
cated  by  the  public  press.  I  do  not  mean  to  express  any  opinion 
as  to  .the  propriety  or  impropriety  of  negro  suffrage,  which  I  have 
studiously  avoided  doing  on  all  occasions  during  this  session. 

MR.    POMEROY.    What  about  the  "white  man's  government?" 

MR.  STEWART.  About  the  white  man's  government,  I  said  that 
the  idea  should  not  be  scoffed  at;  that  it  was  a  prejudice  in  the 
country  that  no  man  had  a  right  to  disregard;  and  I  still  say  so. 
But  I  was  going  to  explain  that  after  having  come  to  the  conclusion 
that  .this  is  the  present  attitude  of  Congress,  and  of  the  country, 
and  not  having  heard  from  the  Southern  States  upon  the  proposition, 
I  think  it  but  fair  and  just  that  the  best  terms  Congress  is  willing 
to  grant  at  this  session  should  be  submitted  to  the  South,  for  them 
to  adopt  voluntarily  or  to  reject.  This  proposition  avoids  all  the 
odious  provisions  which  were  attached  to  the  other  propositions  that 
have  been  brought  forward,  in  my  estimation  which  appeared 
like  coercion.  It  also  avoids  .the  long  road  of  a  constitutional  amend 
ment  which  must  be  contested  upon  Northern  battlefields  before  the 
South  will  have  an  opportunity  to  be  heard  upon  it. 

This,  or  something  of  this  character,  is  the  only  proposition  that 
can  be  heard  in  the  South  upon  which  they  can  pass  during  this 
session  of  Congress.  I  do  not  pretend  to  be  wedded  to  the  particular 
provisions,  but  simply  to  the  general  proposition.  I  want  it  to 
conform  exactly  to  the  sentiment  of  Congress.  I  want  the  South 
to  have  an  opportunity  to  vote  upon  it  without  embodying  it  in  any 
01  the  provisions  which  they  regard  as  odious  or  coercive.  After 
the  proposition  has  been  discussed,  if  they  refuse  to  adopt  it,  it  will 


*Cong.  Globe,  1st  Sess.,  3Oth  Cong.,  Part  II,  1865-66,  p.  1754. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        217 

be  time  enough  .to  consider  other  propositions;  but,  until  they  do 
refuse,  I  think  it  unjust  to  take  from  them  the  right  to  decide  for 
themselves. 

The  New  York  Tribune,  and  most  of  the  leading 
Republican  journals  of  the  United  States,  indorsed  and 
advocated  the  plan.  The  great  war  Governor  of  Mas 
sachusetts,  John  A.  Andrew,  wrote  me  the  following 
letter: 

Boston,  March  20,  1866. 
MY  DEAR  SIR: 

I  have  read  with  great  satisfaction  and  interest  the  resolutions 
proposed  by  you  last  week  in  the  Senate  concerning  the  reorganiza 
tion  of  the  States  lately  in  rebellion. 

If  it  was  convenient  to  do  so  at  this  moment,  I  might  perhaps 
take  the  liberty  of  writing  you  at  some  length,  but  it  is  enough  for 
my  present  purpose  to  declare  my  hearty  sympathy  with  the  general 
design  and  plan  they  indicate. 

I  beg  you  will  allow  me  to  call  your  attention  to  a  valedictory 
address  delivered  in  the  general  Court  of  Massachusetts  on  the  fourth 
of  January  last,  in  which,  with  some  elaboration,  I  attempted  to 
discuss  the  same  general  subject,  and  if  I  correctly  understand  the 
resolutions  you  offered  in  the  Senate,  I  think  that  you  and  myself 
are  in  entire  agreement. 

It  seems  plain  to  me  that  the  colored  men  must  be  invested  with 
the  rights,  both  political  and  civil,  which  pertain  to  citizenship, 
according  to  laws  which  shall  impart  political  honors  according  to 
capacity  and  desert,  and  not  according  to  descent  or  accident  of 
bir.th,  or  else  they  must  be  exterminated.  I  think  that  the  former 
rebels  must  be  reinstated  in  their  political  rights  or  they  must  be 
exterminated.  I  think,  also,  that  the  same  body  of  voters  in  each 
State  who  carried  it  out  into  rebellion  must  bring  it  back  again  into 
loyalty.  Any  other  reconstruction  Is  dangerous  and  delusive. 

I  pray  you  to  excuse  both  the  brevity  of  this  note  and  the  liberty 
I  take  in  expressing  opinions  so  explicitly,  and  believe  me,  faithfully 
your  friend  and  servant, 

JOHN  A.  ANDREW. 
HON.  WILLIAM  M.  STEWART, 

United  States  Senate,  Washington,  D.  C 

The  day  after  the  receipt  of  this  letter,  Mr.  Greeley, 
Governor  Andrew,  and  a  number  of  other  leading 


218         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Republicans  came  to  Washington  to  urge  the  adoption 
of  the  plan  I  proposed;  but  the  growing  bitterness 
between  Congress  and  the  Executive  darkened  counsel, 
and  precluded  the  possibility  of  favorable  consideration 
of  so  just  and  mild  a  plan. 


CHAPTER    XXIII 

Mark  Twain  becomes  my  secretary — Back  from  the  Holy  Land,  and 
he  looks  it — The  landlady  terrorized — I  interfere  with  a  humor 
ist's  pleasures,  and  get  a  black  patch — Revenge !  Clemens  the 
hero  of  a  Nevada  hold-up. 

About  the  winter  of  1867,  I  think,  while  my  family 
was  in  Paris,  I  lived  in  a  rather  tumble-down  build 
ing  which  at  that  time  stood  on  the  northwest  corner 
of  Fourteenth  and  F  Streets,  N.  W.,  opposite  the  old 
Ebbitt  House,  where  many  of  my  Congressional 
cronies  had  quarters.  The  house  was  a  weather-beaten 
old  place,  a  relic  of  early  Washington. 

Its  proprietress  was  Miss  Virginia  Wells,  an  esti 
mable  lady  about  70  years  of  age,  prim,  straight  as  a 
ramrod,  and  with  smooth-plastered  white  hair.  She 
belonged  to  one  of  the  first  families  of  Virginia,  which 
were  quite  numerous  in  Washington,  and  was  very 
aristocratic;  but  having  lost  everything  in  the  war,  she 
had  come  to  Washington,  and  managed  to  make  a 
precarious  living  as  a  lodging-house  keeper. 

I  had  the  second  floor  of  her  residence,  one  of  the 
rooms,  facing  upon  both  streets,  a  spacious  apartment 
about  seventy-five  feet  long,  which  I  had  divided  by 
a  curtain  drawn  across  it,  making  a  little  chamber  at 
the  rear,  in  which  I  slept.  The  front  part  was  my 
sitting-room.  I  had  a  desk  there,  and  tables,  with 
writing  materials,  and  my  books,  and  a  sideboard  upon 
which  I  kept  at  all  times  plenty  of  cigars  and  a  supply 
of  whiskey,  for  I  occasionally  smoked  and  took  a  drink 
of  liquor. 

I  was  seated  at  my  window  one  morning  when  a 
very  disreputable-looking  person  slouched  into  the  room. 
He  was  arrayed  in  a  seedy  suit,  which  hung  upon  his 
lean  frame  in  bunches  with  no  style  worth  mentioning. 


220        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

A  sheaf  of  scraggy  black  hair  leaked  out  of  a  battered 
old  slouch  hat,  like  stuffing  from  an  ancient  Colonial 
sofa,  and  an  evil-smelling  cigar  butt,  very  much  fraz 
zled,  protruded  from  the  corner  of  his  mouth.  He  had 
a  very  sinister  appearance.  He  was  a  man  I  had  known 
around  the  Nevada  mining  camps  several  years  before, 
and  his  name  was  Samuel  L.  Clemens. 

I  suppose  he  was  the  most  lovable  scamp  and  nui 
sance  who  ever  blighted  Nevada.  When  I  first  knew 
him  he  was  a  reporter  on  the  Territorial  Enterprise, 
which  was  otherwise  a  very  reputable  paper  published 
in  Viginia  City,  and  his  brother,  Orion  Clemens,  was  a 
respectable  young  gentleman,  and  well  liked. 

Sam  Clemens  was  a  busy  person.  He  went  around 
putting  things  in  the  paper  about  people,  and  stirring 
up  trouble.  He  did  not  care  whether  the  things  he 
wrote  were  true  or  not,  just  so  he  could  write  some 
thing,  and  naturally  he  was  not  popular.  I  did  not 
associate  with  him. 

This  Clemens  one  day  wrote  something  about  a  dis 
tinguished  citizen  of  Virginia  City,  a  friend  of  mine, 
which  was  entirely  characteristic  of  Clemens,  as  it  had 
not  the  slightest  foundation  in  fact.  I  remonstrated 
with  him. 

"You  are  getting  worse  every  day,"  I  said.  "Why 
can't  you  be  genial,  like  your  brother  Orion?  You 
ought  to  be  hung  for  what  you  have  published  this 
morning." 

"I  don't  mean  anything  by  that,"  returned  Clemens. 
"I  do  not  know  this  friend  of  yours.  For  all  /  am 
aware  he  may  be  a  very  desirable  and  conscientious 
man.  But  I  must  make  a  living,  and  so  I  must  write. 
My  employers  demand  it,  and  I  am  helpless." 

He  said  he  wrote  it  "because  it  was  humorous." 
Maybe  it  was.  I  did  not  undertake  to  argue  with  him. 
I  could  not  see  it,  and  so  I  let  it  go  at  that. 

Clemens  had  a  great  habit  of  making  fun  of  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        221 

young  fellows  and  the  girls,  and  wrote  ridiculous  pieces 
about  parties  and  other  social  events,  to  which  he  was 
never  invited.  After  a  while  he  went  over  to  Carson 
City,  and  touched  up  the  people  over  there,  and  got 
everybody  down  on  him.  I  thought  he  had  faded  from 
our  midst  forever,  but  the  citizens  of  Carson  drove 
him  away.  At  any  rate,  he  drifted  back  to  Virginia 
City  in  a  few  weeks.  He  didn't  have  a  friend,  but  the 
boys  got  together  and  said  they  would  give  a  party,  and 
invite  Clemens  to  it,  and  make  him  feel  at  home,  and 
respectable  and  decent,  and  kindly,  and  generous,  and 
loving,  and  considerate  of  the  feelings  of  others.  I 
could  have  warned  them,  but  I  didn't. 

Clemens  went  to  that  party  and  danced  with  the 
prettiest  girls,  and  monopolized  them,  and  enjoyed 
himself,  and  made  a  good  meal,  and  then  shoved  over 
to  the  Enterprise  office  and  wrote  the  whole  thing  up 
in  an  outrageous  manner.  He  lambasted  that  party  for 
all  the  English  language  would  allow,  and  if  any  of 
the  guests  was  unfortunate  enough  to  be  awkward  or 
had  big  feet,  or  a  wart  on  the  nose,  Clemens  did  not 
forget  it.  He  fairly  strained  his  memory. 

Of  course  this  made  the  boys  angry,  and  we  decided 
to  get  even.  There  was  a  stage  that  ran  from  Carson 
to  Virginia  City,  and  Clemens  was  a  passenger  on  it 
one  night  The  boys  laid  in  wait,  and  when  the  stage 
lumbered  by  a  lonely  spot  they  swooped  out,  and  upset 
it,  and  turned  it  upside  down,  and  dragged  Clemens 
out  and  threw  him  in  a  canyon,  and  broke  up  his  port 
manteau,  and  threw  that  in  on  top  of  him.  He  was 
the  scaredest  man  west  of  the  Mississippi;  but  the 
next  morning,  when  he  crawled  back  to  town,  and  it 
was  day,  and  light,  and  safe,  he  began  to  swell  a  little, 
and  pretty  soon  he  was  bragging  about  his  narrow 
escape.  By  and  by  he  began  to  color  it  up,  and  add 
details  that  he  had  overlooked  at  first,  until  he  made 
out  that  he  had  been  in  one  of  the  most  desperate  stage 


222         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

robberies  in  the  history  of  the  West,  and  it  was  a 
pretty  poor  story  that  he  couldn't  lug  that  one  into, 
by  the  nape  of  the  neck,  sort  of  casually. 

After  that  he  drifted  away,  and  I  thought  he  had 
been  hanged,  or  elected  to  Congress,  or  something  like 
that,  and  I  had  forgotten  him,  until  he  slouched  into 
my  room,  and  then  of  course  I  remembered  him.  I 
said: 

"If  you  put  anything  in  the  paper  about  me  I'll  sue 
you  for  libel."  He  waved  the  suggestion  aside  with 
easy  familiarity. 

"Senator,"  he  said,  "I've  come  to  see  you  on  import 
ant  business.  I  am  just  back  from  the  Holy  Land." 

"That  is  a  mean  thing  to  ^say  of  the  Holy  Land 
when  it  isn't  here  to  defend  itself,"  I  replied, 
looking  him  over.  "But  maybe  you  didn't  get  all 
the  advantages.  You  ought  to  go  back  and  take  a  post 
graduate  course.  Did  you  walk  home?" 

"I  have  a  proposition,"  said  Clemens,  not  at  all 
ruffled.  "There's  millions  in  it.  All  I  need  is  a  little 
cash  stake.  I  have  been  to  the  Holy  Land  with  a 
party  of  innocent  and  estimable  people  who  are  fairly 
aching  to  be  written  up,  and  I  think  I  could  do 
the  job  neatly  and  with  dispatch  if  I  were  not 
troubled  with  other — more — pressing — considerations. 
I've  started  the  book  already,  and  it  is  a  wonder.  I  can 
vouch  for  it." 

"Let  me  see  the  manuscript,"  I  said.  He  pulled  a 
dozen  sheets  or  so  from  his  pocket  and  handed  them 
to  me.  I  read  what  he  had  written,  and  saw  that  it 
was  bully,  so  I  continued,  "I'll  appoint  you  my  clerk 
at  the  Senate,  and  you  can  live  on  the  salary.  There's 
a  little  hall  bedroom  across  the  way  where  you  can 
sleep,  and  you  can  write  your  book  in  here.  Help  your 
self  to  the  whiskey  and  cigars,  and  wade  in." 

He  accepted  all  of  my  invitations,  in  the  modest  and 
unassuming  manner  for  which  he  had  been  noted  in 
• 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         223 

Nevada,   and  became  a  member  of  my   family,   and 
my  clerk. 

It  was  not  long  before  Clemens  took  notice  of  Miss 
Virginia.  Her  timid,  aristocratic  nature  shrank  from 
him,  and  I  think  she  was  half  afraid  of  him.  He  did 
not  overlook  any  opportunities  to  make  her  life  miser 
able,  and  was  always  playing  some  joke  on  her.  He 
would  lurch  around  the  halls,  pretending  to  be  intoxi 
cated,  and  would  throw  her  into  a  fit  about  six 
times  a  day. 

He  would  burn  the  light  in  his  bedroom  all  night, 
and  started  her  figuring  up  her  expense  account  with  a 
troubled,  anxious  face.  Pretty  soon  he  took  to  smok 
ing  cigars  in  bed. 

She  never  slept  after  this  discovery,  but  every  night 
would  lie  awake,  with  her  clothes  handy  on  a  chair, 
expecting  the  house  to  be  burned  down  any  minute,  and 
ready  to  skip  out  at  the  first  alarm;  and  she  became  so 
pale,  and  thin,  and  wasted,  and  troubled  that  it  would 
have  melted  a  pirate's  heart  to  see  her.  She  crept  to 
my  room  one  day,  the  mere  shadow  of  her  former  self. 
She  no  longer  leaned  over  backward,  as  she  usually 
did,  because  of  being  so  straight  and  dignified,  but  was 
badly  bent.  I  was  shocked. 

"Senator,"  she  said,  "if  you  don't  ask  that  friend 
of  yours  to  leave  I  shall  have  to  give  up  my  lodging- 
house,  and  God  knows  what  will  become  of  me  then. 
He  smokes  cigars  in  bed  all  night,  and  has  ruined  my 
best  sheets,  and  I  expect  to  be  burned  out  any  time. 
I've  been  on  the  alert  now  for  three  weeks,  but  I  can't 
keep  it  up  much  longer.  I  need  sleep." 

I  told  her  to  leave  the  room,  and  I  called  Clemens. 
He  slouched  in. 

"Clemens,"  I  said,  "if  you  don't  stop  annoying  this 
little  lady  I'll  give  you  a  sound  thrashing — I'll  wait 
till  that  book's  finished.  I  don't  want  to  interfere  with 
literature — I'll  thrash  you  after  it's  finished." 


224        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

He  blew  some  smoke  in  my  face. 

"You  are  mighty  unreasonable,"  he  replied.  "Why 
do  you  want  to  interfere  with  my  pleasures?" 

I  thought  he  would  behave  himself  after  that.  But 
one  day  a  week  later  Miss  Virginia  staggered  into  my 
room  again,  in  a  flood  of  tears.  She  said : 

"Senator,  that  man  will  kill  me.  I  can't  stand  it. 
If  he  doesn't  go  I'll  have  to  ask  you  to  give  up  your 
rooms,  and  the  Lord  knows  whether  I'll  be  able  to 
rent  them  again." 

This  filled  me  with  alarm.  I  was  very  comfortable 
where  I  was.  I  sent  her  away  kindly,  and  called  Clem 
ens.  He  slouched  in  again. 

"You  have  got  to  stop  this  foolishness,"  I  said.  "If 
you  don't  cease  annoying  this  little  lady  I'll  amend  my 
former  resolution,  and  give  you  that  thrashing  here 
and  now.  Then  I'll  send  you  to  the  hospital,  and  pay 
your  expenses,  and  bring  you  back,  and  you  can  finish 
your  book  upholstered  in  bandages."  He  saw  that  I 
meant  business. 

"All  right,"  he  replied,  "I'll  give  up  my  amusements, 
but  I'll  get  even  with  you." 

He  did.  When  he  wrote  "Roughing  It"  he  said  I 
had  cheated  him  out  of  some  mining  stock  or  something 
like  that,  and  that  he  had  given  me  a  sound  thrashing; 
and  he  printed  a  picture  of  me  in  the  book,  with  a  patch 
over  one  eye. 

Clemens  remained  with  me  for  some  time.  He 
wrote  his  book  in  my  room,  and  named  it  "The  Inno 
cents  Abroad."  I  was  confident  that  he  would  come  to 
no  good  end,  but  I  have  heard  of  him  from  time  to  time 
since  then,  and  I  understand  that  he  has  settled  down 
and  become  respectable. 


CHAPTER    XXIV 

Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution — Explanation  of  my 
vote — Military  bill  passed  the  House — Opposition  to  martial 
law — President  Johnson  vetoed. 

The  antagonism  between  the  Executive  and  the 
Legislative  Departments  of  the  Government  continued 
to  increase  until  an  impassable  gulf  lay  between  them. 
President  Johnson  repudiated  every  sentiment  of  recon 
ciliation,  and  assumed  that  he  alone  was  the  Govern 
ment  of  the  United  States,  and  that  any  participation 
in  that  government  by  the  Legislative  Department  was 
usurpation. 

The  Committee  of  Fifteen  in  due  time  reported  what 
is  now  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  to  the  Constitution 
of  the  United  States,  as  follows: 

SECTION  i.  All  persons  born  or  naturalized  in  the  United  States, 
and  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  thereof,  are  citizens  of  the  United 
States  and  of  the  State  wherein  they  reside.  No  State  shall  make 
or  enforce  any  law  which  shall  abridge  the  privileges  or  immunities 
of  citizens  of  the  United  States;  nor  shall  any  State  deprive  any 
person  of  life,  liberty,  or  property,  without  due  process  of  law,  nor 
deny  to  any  person  within  its  jurisdiction  the  equal  protection  of  the 
laws. 

SEC.  2.  Representatives  shall  be  apportioned  among  the 
several  States  according  to  their  respective  numbers,  counting  the 
whole  number  of  persons  in  each  State,  excluding  Indians  not  taxed. 
But  when  the  right  to  vote  at  any  election  for  the  choice  of  electors 
for  President  an3  Vice-President  of  the  United  States,  representa 
tives  in  Congress,  the  executive  and  judicial  officers  of  a  State,  or 
the  members  of  the  Legislature  thereof,  is  denied  to  any  of  the 
male  inhabitants  of  such  State,  being  twenty-one  years  of  age,  and 
citizens  of  the  United  States,  or  in  any  way  abridged,  except  for 
participation  in  rebellion  or  other  crime,  the  basis  of  representation 
therein  shall  be  reduced  in  the  proportion  which  the  number  of  such 
male  citizens  shall  bear  to  the  whole  number  of  male  citizens  twenty- 
one  years  of  age  in  such  State. 

SEC.    3.     No   person    shall   be    a    Senator   or    Representative    in 
15 


226         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Congress,  or  elector  of  the  President  and  Vice-President,  or  hold 
any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  United  States,  or  under  any 
State,  who,  having  previously  taken  an  oath,  as  a  member  of  Con 
gress,  or  as  an  officer  of  the  United  States,  or  as  a  member  of  any 
State  Legislature,  or  as  an  executive  or  judicial  officer  of  any  State, 
to  support  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  shall  have  engaged 
in  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  same,  or  given  aid  or  comfort 
to  the  enemies  thereof.  But  Congress  may,  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds 
of  each  House,  remove  such  disability. 

SEC.  4.  The  validity  of  the  public  debt  of  the  United  States, 
authorized  by  law,  including  debts  incurred  for  payment  of  pensions 
and  bounties  for  services  in  suppressing  insurrection  or  rebellion, 
shall  not  be  questioned.  But  neither  the  United  States  nor  any 
State  shall  assume  or  pay  any  debt  or  obligation  incurred  in  aid 
of  insurrection  or  rebellion  against  the  United  States,  or  any 
claim  for  the  loss  or  emancipation  of  any  slave ;  but  all  such 
debts,  obligations,  and  claims  shall  be  held  illegal  and  void. 

SEC.  5.  The  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  by 
appropriate  legislation  the  provisions  of  this  article. 

It  was  clear  to  me  that  the  sweeping  disfranchise- 
ment  in  Section  3  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  would 
greatly  delay  the  reconstruction  of  the  States.  It 
excluded  from  participation  in  the  rehabilitation  of  the 
Confederate  States  the  great  mass  of  the  intelligent 
and  well-to-do  citizens,  because  nearly  all  of  them  had 
held  some  office  under  the  State  or  National  Govern 
ment.  It  is  true  that  Congress  retained  the  power  in 
that  same  section  by  a  two-thirds  vote  in  each  House 
to  remove  the  disabilities  imposed.  I  pointed  out  in 
debate  from  time  to  time  the  inadequacy  of  the  pro 
posed  amendment  to  restore  the  Union,  and  called  atten 
tion  to  the  strife  and  ill  feeling  that  would  follow 
dilatory  or  harsh  measures. 

I  maintained  that  it  was  the  duty  of  Congress  to 
state  fully  the  demands  of  the  Government  and  leave 
the  South  free  to  accept  or  reject  the  conditions  pro 
posed.  But  finally  I  was  forced  to  the  conclusion  that 
the  war  between  President  Johnson  and  Congress  was 
such  that  nothing  could  be  done  that  was  not  sane- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         227 

tioned  by  the  Committee  of  Fifteen,  and  I  thought  best 
to  support  the  amendment  which  they  had  reported. 
On  the  5th  of  June,  1866,  while  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment  was  pending,  I  arose  in  the  Senate  and  said  :* 

MR.  PRESIDENT:  As  I  shall  vote  for  the  plan  agreed  upon 
among  my  political  friends,  it  is  proper  that  I  should  make  a  brief 
statement.  While  it  is  not  the  plan  that  I  would  have  adopted, 
as  is  well  known,  still  it  is  the  -best  that  I  can  get  and  contains 
many  excellent  provisions.  It  repudiates  the  rebel  debt  and  affirms 
the  sacred  obligation  of  the  Nation  to  pay  the  debt  contracted  in 
preservation  of  the  Union. 

It  does  not  base  representation  on  voters,  which  I  preferred, 
but  it  approximates  it  more  nearly  than  any  other  plan  presented, 
and  recognizes  the  principle  that  a  white  man  in  the  Nor.th  is 
entitled  to  equal  representation  with  a  white  man  in  the  South.  It 
declares  that  all  men  are  entitled  to  life,  liberty  and  property; 
and  imposes  upon  the  Government  the  duty  of  disregarding  these 
solemn  obligations,  but  fails  to  adopt  the  easy  and  direct  means 
for  the  attainment  of  the  results  proposed.  It  refuses  the  aid  of 
four  million  people  in  maintaining  the  Government  of  the  people. 
It  involves  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill,  Civil  Rights  bill,  test  oaths 
and  exclusion  from  office,  all  supported  by  military  power.  I  would 
not  object  to  these,  for  I  recognize  the  obligation  of  full  pro 
tection  for  all  men,  if  there  were  no  cheaper,  easier,  and  better  plan 
for  the  attainment  of  this  worthy  object  *  *  *  . 

Subsequent  events  have  demonstrated  that  I  was 
right.  If  the  plan  that  I  proposed,  and  which  at  the 
time  was  approved  by  many  of  the  wisest  and  most 
patriotic  of  men,  had  been  adopted,  the  South  would 
have  accomplished  themselves,  of  their  own  volition, 
substantial  results  which  twenty  years  of  coercive  legis 
lation,  aided  by  the  military,  finally  secured.  I  verily 
believe  if  Mr.  Lincoln  could  have  lived  that  some 
simple  plan  would  have  been  adopted  for  securing  all 
the  beneficial  results  which  have  since  been  attained, 
without  the  heartburnings  and  animosities  engendered 
by  the  strife  of  reconstruction. 

*Cong.  Globe.,  ist  Sess.,  39th  Cong.,   Part  IV,  p.  2964. 


228         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Nothing  was  done  by  the  States  in  preparation  for 
rehabilitation  and  restoration  of  the  Union  under  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment.  The  President  contended  that 
he  had  reorganized  the  States  by  virtue  of  his  Execu 
tive  authority.  Congress  not  having  stated  or  pro 
claimed  practicable  conditions  upon  which  the  States 
might  return,  everything  was  in  uncertainty  and 
confusion. 

Upon  the  convening  of  the  39th  Congress  in  Decem 
ber,  1865,  the  Committee  of  Fifteen  devoted  them 
selves  to  the  consideration  of  the  whole  subject  of 
reconstruction.  On  February  15,  1867,  Senator  Wil 
liams  of  Oregon  presented  to  the  Senate  a  bill  which 
had  been  agreed  upon  by  the  Committee  of  Fifteen, 
and  passed  by  the  House,  placing  the  Confederate 
States  under  military  rule,  pure  and  simple.  Senator 
Johnson  of  Maryland  offered  an  amendment,  origin 
ally  prepared  by  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio,  but  afterward 
known  as  the  Elaine  amendment.  Mr.  Williams,  for 
the  Committee,  said  that  no  amendments  to  the  mili 
tary  bill  reported  by  the  Committee  would  be  accepted, 
although  he  had  given  notice  the  night  previous  that 
he  would  offer  the  Elaine  amendment  himself. 

I  arose  at  once  and  entered  my  protest  against  plac 
ing  the  South  under  military  rule  without  some  pro 
vision  in  the  bill  whereby  the  people  of  that  section 
could  relieve  themselves  of  military  government  by 
complying  with  reasonable  conditions.  I  pointed  out 
at  length  that  if  the  bill  should  become  a  law,  the 
Southern  States  could  do  nothing  to  restore  their 
relations  with  the  Government;  that  the  Government 
of  the  United  States  could  do  nothing  without  affirma 
tive  legislation  repealing  the  arbitrary  provisions  of  the 
proposed  legislation;  that  either  House  of  Congress 
could  prevent  any  modifications  of  the  bill  after  it 
became  a  law;  that  the  President  might  veto  any 
measure  of  relief. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         229 

I  declared  most  emphatically  that,  unless  some  pro 
visions  were  incorporated  in  the  bill,  whereby  the  South 
ern  people  by  their  own  action  could  relieve  them 
selves  of  military  rule,  I  would  not  vote  for  the  bill 
though  every  member  of  both  Houses  of  Congress 
might  do  so.  I  said  I  would  not  trust  an  irrevocable 
military  government  for  the  South  which  non-action 
might  make  perpetual. 

I  maintained  the  debate  until  the  Senate  adjourned, 
and  during  that  time  a  large  number  of  Senators 
expressed  either  concurrence  or  sympathy  with  my 
views.  The  Republicans  in  the  Senate  were  forced  to 
hold  a  caucus  and  modify  the  bill.  The  result  was  the 
adoption  of  the  principles  of  the  Elaine  amendment 
with  slight  modifications.  The  5th  section  of  the  bill, 
as  it  finally  passed  both  Houses  and  became  a  law, 
reads  as  follows  :* 

SECTION  5.  And  be  it  further  enacted,  That  when  the  people 
of  any  one  of  the  said  rebel  States  shall  have  formed  a  constitution 
of  government  in  conformity  with  the  Constitution  of  the  United 
States  in  all  respects,  framed  by  a  convention  of  delegates  elected 
by  the  male  citizens  of  said  State,  twenty-one  years  old  and 
upward,  of  whatever  race,  color  or  previous  condition,  who  have 
been  resident  in  said  State  for  one  year  previous  to  the  day  of  such 
election,  except  such  as  may  be  disfranchised  for  participation  in 
the  rebellion  or  for  felony  at  common  law,  and  when  such  con 
stitution  shall  provide  that  the  elective  franchise  shall  be  enjoyed 
by  all  such  persons  as  have  the  qualifications  herein  stated  for 
electors  or  delegates,  and  when  such  constitution  shall  be  ratified 
by  a  majority  of  the  persons  voting  on  the  question  of  ratification 
who  are  qualified  as  electors  for  delegates,  and  when  such  con 
stitution  shall  have  been  submitted  to  Congress  for  examination 
and  approval,  and  Congress  shall  have  approved  the  same,  and  when 
said  State,  by  vote  of  its  Legislature  elected  under  said  constitu 
tion,  shall  have  adopted  the  amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  proposed  by  the  Thirty-ninth  Congress,  and  known 
as  Article  Fourteenth,  and  when  said  Article  shall  have  become 
a  part  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  said  State  shall  be 


*i4th  U.  S.  Statutes  at  Large,  p.  429. 


230         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

declared  entitled  to  representation  in  Congress,  and  Senators  and 
Representatives  shall  be  admitted  therefrom  on  their  taking  the 
oath  prescribed  by  law,  and  then  and  thereafter  the  preceding 
sections  of  this  Act  shall  Hbe  inoperative  in  said  State:  Provided, 
That  no  person  excluded  from  the  privilege  of  holding  office  by 
said  proposed  amendment  to  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States 
shall  be  eligible  to  election  as  a  member  of  the  convention  to 
frame  a  constitution  for  any  of  said  rebel  States,  nor  shall  any 
such  person  vote  for  members  of  such  convention. 

The  law  having  passed  over  the  veto  of  Andrew 
Johnson,  he  exercised  the  full  power  of  the  Executive 
to  prevent  reconstruction  under  it. 

The  leading  statesmen  of  the  South  were  disqualified. 
At  first  only  a  few  came  forward  and  were  relieved  to 
have  the  disabilities  removed  by  a  two-thirds  vote  by 
each  House  of  Congress  as  provided  by  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  Northern  men,  generally  of  a 
speculative  quality,  gathered  in  the  several  Southern 
States,  and  by  cooperation  with  an  ignorant  colored 
population,  secured  control  of  the  Legislatures  in  some 
of  the  Southern  States,  and  a  powerful  influence  in  all 
of  them.  Corruption  and  misgovernment  were  the  inevi 
table  consequence.  Finally  a  caucus  of  the  Republican 
Senators  was  called,  under  which  with  some  subsequent 
amendments  the  States  were  finally  restored. 


CHAPTER    XXV 

General  Grant  elected  President — Re-elected  to  the  Senate  in 
1869 — Conference  with  Grant — I  write  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment — Its  passage  by  Congress — Grant's  Inaugural  recommen 
dation  on  negro  suffrage. 

In  1868  General  Grant  was  elected  President  of  the 
United  States.  His  popularity  as  a  soldier  and  fair- 
minded  man  secured  for  him  an  overwhelming  majority, 
including  three-fourths  of  all  the  States.  The  Chicago 
Convention  which  nominated  him  declared  for  equal 
suffrage  in  the  South,  without  regard  to  race  or  color, 
indorsed  the  legislation  of  Congress,  and  severely  con 
demned  the  administration  of  Andrew  Johnson. 

President  Grant's  Administration,  by  the  platform 
on  which  he  was  elected,  the  public  press,  and  the 
orators  of  the  campaign,  was  committed  to  the  pro 
tection  of  the  emancipated  slaves,  either  by  granting 
to  them  suffrage,  or  the  exercise  by  Congress  of  all 
measures,  however  coercive,  to  secure  equality  before 
the  law. 

The  Nevada  Legislature  which  elected  me  my  own 
successor  in  1869  was  chosen  at  the  time  of  the  election 
of  President  Grant,  and  I  returned  to  Washington  the 
week  before  Congress  met,  about  November  25,  1868, 
after  President  Grant's  election.  Many  bills  were  pend 
ing  providing  for  colored  suffrage  and  protection  for 
emancipated  slaves  by  various  devices;  such  as  amend 
ments  to  the  Constitution  securing  equal  suffrage, 
amendments  to  the  Freedmen's  Bureau  bill  and  the 
Civil  Rights  bill. 

I  read  over  all  the  various  propositions  for  suffrage 
and  for  direct  legislation  protecting  the  negroes,  and 
recognized  the  fact  that  the  general  tone  of  all  the 
propositions  for  the  protection  of  the  negro  was  in 


232         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

harmony  with  the  sentiment  of  the  campaign  resulting 
in  General  Grant's  overwhelming  victory. 

I  called  on  General  Grant  the  following  evening  at 
his  residence  on  I  Street. 

He  invited  me  into  his  private  room,  and  I  told  him 
in  a  general  way  of  the  various  plans  that  had 
been  referred  to  the  Judiciary  Committee  by  the  Senate. 
I  said  that  I  would  like  very  much  for  the  guidance 
of  my  own  conduct  to  know  what  he  thought  should 
be  done. 

We  discussed  the  matter  for  several  hours,  with  the 
understanding  that  Congress  and  the  incoming  Adminis 
tration  were  thoroughly  committed  to  the  people  to 
place  them  in  power  to  protect  emancipated  slaves  by 
an  amendment  to  the  Constitution  extending  equal  suf 
frage  to  all,  or  coercive  measures  of  legislation.  The 
former  would  satisfy  the  country  by  placing  in  the 
hands  of  the  colored  man  the  ballot  with  which  to 
protect  himself.  The  latter  would  involve  coercive 
measures  of  doubtful  constitutionality  to  be  enforced  by 
military  power. 

General  Grant  inquired  of  me  if  I  thought  the  negro 
could  protect  himself  from  oppression  by  .the  use  of  the 
ballot.  I  told  him  the  ballot  would  be  his  ultimate 
protection,  but  that  when  the  whites  of  the  South  under 
took,  in  good  faith,  to  carry  on  their  own  governments, 
the  ballot  of  the  negro  wrould  amount  to  very  little.  I 
thought  they  would  practically  be  excluded,  but  that 
the  right  to  vote  secured  to  the  colored  man  by  the 
Constitution  of  the  United  States  would  save  him  from 
peon  laws  and  obtain  powerful  friends  who  would  pre 
vent  his  reenslavement. 

I  called  Grant's  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  negroes 
of  the  Northern,  and  in  some  of  the  Southern,  States, 
would  be  allowed  to  exercise  the  right  of  suffrage  with 
out  molestation,  and  that  in  the  near  future  they  would 
have  the  balance  of  power  in  many  of  the  States,  con- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         233 

sequently  there  would  always  be  a  majority  of  the  people 
of  the  United  .States  who  would  take  an  interest  in  pre 
serving  the  rights  of  the  colored  man.  I  also  called  his 
attention  to  my  original  proposition,  which  I  offered 
before  the  adoption  of  the  Fourteenth  Amendment  for 
universal  suffrage  and  universal  amnpfffy.  prr"7iding  that- 
fhej^tates jnigfa  fiyempt "yqt^-s  iirujfcj-  frfa  ]fl|W  pf  T«^Q 
from  the  restrictions  which  they  might  see  fit  to  impose. 

If  that  had  been  adopted  the  Union  would  have  been 
restored,  with  the  Government  in  the  hands  of  the  intel 
ligent  white  men;  ignorant  negroes  and  whites  being 
excluded  until  they  could  attain  qualifications  entitling 
them  to  vote. 

General  Grant  was  silent  for  some  time,  and  finally 
said  he  believed  suffrage  the  safest  remedy. 

"What  can  I  do?"  he  said.  "I  am  not  President  and 
will  not  be  until  the  4th  of  March." 

"You  are  much  more  powerful  now  than  you  will  be 
after  your  inauguration,"  I  replied.  "Three-fourths  of 
the  States,  being  the  number  necessary  to  adopt  the 
amendment,  have  already  voted  for  you,  and  the  legis 
latures  of  nearly  all  of  them  will  be  in  session  during 
the  coming  winter.  The  number  of  persons  desiring 
office  may  not  be  a  majority  of  the  people,  but  they  are 
numerous  enough  to  control  the  State  legislatures  so  far 
as  complying  with  any  reasonable  wish  of  yours  is  con 
cerned." 

"Do  you  think  that  is  so?"  he  said. 

"Yes,  most  emphatically,"  I  replied. 

"What  can  I  do?"  said  he.  "I  cannot  make  procla 
mation  of  my  views  until  after  my  inauguration." 

"Certainly  not,"  I  answered;  "but  when  this  ques 
tion  is  brought  before  Congress  men  will  flock  to  you, 
asking  your  views.  You  can  reply  in  one  sentence 
by  saying  you  are  for  the  amendment.  I  need  not  sug 
gest  to  you  how  to  prevent  further  conversation;  you 
know  how  to  do  that." 


234         Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart 

"I  am  for  the  amendment,  and  will  say  so  on  all 
proper  occasions,"  was  his  reply. 

We  then  parted.  At  the  first  meeting  of  the 
Judiciary  Committee — composed  at  that  time  of  Sen 
ators  Trumbull,  chairman;  Stewart,  Frelinghuysen, 
Edmunds,  Conkling,  and  Hendricks — I  moved  that  the 
resolutions  relating  to  an  amendment  to  the  Constitu 
tion  granting  equal  suffrage  without  regard  to  race  or 
color  be  taken  up,  and  Mr.  Conkling  smilingly 
remarked : 

"I  desire  to  amend  the  motion  that  all  resolutions, 
bills,  and  other  matters  relating  to  colored  suffrage  be 
referred  to  the  Senator  from  Nevada,"  which  proposi 
tion  received  every  vote  of  the  committee  except  my 
own,  I  remaining  silent. 

I  took  all  the  papers  referred  to  me,  and  amended 
a  resolution  offered  by  Senator  Henderson  of  Missouri, 
known  as  Resolution  No.  8,  which  read  as  follows: 

No  State  shall  deny  or  abridge  the  right  of  its  citizens  to  vote 
or  hold  office  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition. 

I  changed  the  phraseology  of  the  resolution  so  that 
it  would  read  as  follows: 

The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote  or  hold 
office  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States  or  any 
State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of  servitude. 

The  committee,  without  suggesting  a  change  of  the 
language,  authorized  me  to  report  the  amendment,  and 
also  authorized  me  to  report  adversely  on  the  numer 
ous  other  propositions  referred  to  me. 

On  January  15,  1869,  I  reported  the  amendment  to 
the  Senate  and  returned  all  other  papers  and  docu 
ments  relating  to  the  subject,  and  asked  that  they  be 
indefinitely  postponed,  which  motion  was  granted. 

Senator  Thayer  of  Nebraska  inquired  with  regard 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         235 

to  the  report.    I  asked  for  its  reading.    The  Secretary 
read  the  amendment  as  reported,  as  follows:* 

ARTICLE  15.  The  right  of  citizens  of  the  United  States  to  vote 
and  hold  office  shall  not  be  denied  or  abridged  by  the  United  States 
or  any  State  on  account  of  race,  color,  or  previous  condition  of 
servitude.  And  Congress  shall  have  power  to  enforce  the  pro 
visions  of  this  article  by  appropriate  legislation. 

I  had  much  difficulty  in  getting  the  resolution  taken 
up  for  consideration,  but  finally  on  January  23,  1869, 
I  succeeded  in  bringing  the  amendment  before  the  Sen 
ate  by  a  vote  of  33  to  9,  as  follows: 

Yeas :  Messrs.  Abbott,  Cameron,  Cattell,  Chandler, 
Cole,  Conkling,  Corbett,  Drake,  Edmunds,  Fessenden, 
Frelinghuysen,  Grimes,  Harlan,  Harris,  McDonald, 
Morgan,  Morrill  of  Maine,  Morrill  of  Vermont,  Mor 
ton,  Nye,  Osborn,  Pool,  Ross,  Sawyer,  Sherman,  Spen 
cer,  Stewart,  Sumner,  Thayer,  Trumbull,  Wade, 
Williams,  and  Wilson — 33. 

Nays :  Messrs.  Bayard,  Davis,  Dixon,  Doolittle,  Fow 
ler,  Hendricks,  McCreery,  Norton,  and  Vickers — 9. 

The  discussion  was  very  lengthy  and  elaborate. 
Many  Senators  who  were  anxious  to  defeat  the  amend 
ment  labored  to  embarrass  its  consideration.  Charles 
Sumner  of  Massachusetts,  although  violently  opposed 
to  the  amendment,  did  not  place  himself  on  record  in 
antagonism  to  the  measure,  but  continually  inspired 
motions  for  adjournment.  Such  motions  were  con 
stantly  made  by  Senators  who  would  not  go  on  record 
in  any  manner,  showing  opposition  to  the  amendment. 
My  method  of  thwarting  these  tactics  was  to  put  them 
on  the  record  by  calling  yeas  and  nays.  This  forced 
them  to  vote  against  their  own  motion  to  adjourn,  lay 
on  the  table,  etc. 

Mr.  Sumner  would  not  vote  for  the  amendment  and 
absented  himself  on  its  final  passage.  His  opposition 

*Cong.  Globe,  3rd  Sess.,  40th  Cong.,  Part  I,  p.  379. 


236         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

was  not  because  he  was  opposed  to  negro  suffrage,  but 
because  he  believed  the  power  existed  in  Congress  to 
grant  suffrage  by  direct  legislation,  and  he  was  really 
opposed  to  the  amendment  because  he  regarded  it  as 
an  admission  that  Congress  did  not  already  possess 
the  power. 

After  days  and  nights  of  struggle  and  debate,  the 
resolution  passed  by  more  than  a  two-thirds  majority, 
as  follows: 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Anthony,  Cragin,  Dixon,  Doolittle, 
Edmunds,  Ferry,  Fessenden,  Harlan,  Howard,  Howe, 
Morrill  of  Maine,  Morrill  of  Vermont,  Nye,  Osborn, 
Patterson  of  New  Hampshire,  Ramsey,  Rice,  Stewart, 
Van  Winkle,  Wade,  Warner,  Welch,  Willey,  Wil 
liams,  and  Wilson — 25. 

Nays:  Messrs.  Buckalew,  Cole,  Davis,  Hendricks, 
McCreery,  Morgan,  Morton,  Norton,  and  Ross — 9. 

The  House  passed  a  substitute  for  the  resolution  in 
language  entirely  different.  A  conference  committee 
was  appointed,  consisting  of  William  M.  Stewart, 
George  F.  Edmunds,  and  Roscoe  Conkling,  managers 
on  the  part  of  the  Senate,  and  George  S.  Boutwell, 
John  A.  Bingham,  and  John  A.  Logan,  managers  on 
the  part  of  the  House. 

Bingham  and  Logan  were  willing  to  take  the  Senate 
amendment  with  an  amendment  striking  out  the  words 
"to  hold  office."  I  was  willing  to  strike  out  these 
words,  because  I  thought  the  right  to  vote  carried  with 
it  the  right  to  hold  office.  But  Mr.  Edmunds,  one  of 
my  colleagues,  would  not  consent  to  the  change.  Mr. 
Conkling  agreed  with  me,  making  the  majority  of  the 
committee,  so  that  the  amendment  as  originally  pre 
pared  by  me  and  reported  to  the  Senate  was  adopted 
by  the  conference  committee  with  those  words  stricken 
out.  I  quote  from  the  Congressional  Record  the  report 
of  the  Committee : 

Mr.  Stewart  submitted  the  following  report : 

The  Committee  of  Conference  on  the  disagreeing  votes  of  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         237 

two  Houses  on  the  joint  resolution  (S.  R.  No.  8)  proposing  an 
amendment  of  the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  having  met, 
after  full  and  free  conference  have  agreed  to  recommend,  and  do 
recommend,  to  their  respective  Houses  as  follows :  That  the  House 
recede  from  their  amendments  and  agree  to  the  resolution  of  the 
Senate  with  an  amendment  as  follows :  in  section  i,  line  two, 
strike  out  the  words  "and  hold  office" ;  and  the  Senate  agree  to 
the  same. 

W.  M.  STEWART, 

ROSCOE    CONKLING, 

Managers  on  the  part  of  the  Senate. 

GEORGE   S.    BOUTWELL, 

JOHN  A.   BINGHAM, 

JOHN  A.   LOGAN, 
Managers  on  the  part  of  the  House. 

Then  followed  a  discussion  lasting  until  about  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning  of  February  27,  1869.  The 
House  of  Representatives  having  in  the  mean  time 
agreed  to  the  report  of  the  committee  of  conference, 
the  final  vote  in  the  Senate,  as  follows,  passed  the 
amendment : 

Yeas:  Messrs.  Anthony,  Cattell,  Chandler,  Cole, 
Conkling,  Conness,  Cragin,  Drake,  Ferry,  Fessenden, 
Frelinghuysen,  Harlan,  Harris,  Howard,  Howe,  Kel 
logg,  McDonald,  Morgan,  Morrill  of  Maine,  Morrill 
of  Vermont,  Morton,  Nye,  Osborn,  Patterson  of  New 
Hampshire,  Ramsey,  Rice,  Robertson,  Sherman, 
Stewart,  Thayer,  Tipton,  Trumbull,  Van  Winkle, 
Wade,  Warner,  Welch,  Willey,  Williams,  and 
Wilson — 39. 

Nays:  Messrs.  Bayard,  Buckalew,  Davis,  Dixon, 
Doolittle,  Fowler,  Hendricks,  McCreery,  Norton,  Pat 
terson  of  Tennessee,  Pool,  Vickers,  and  Whyte — 13.  M 

I  had  previously  requested  the  telegraph  office  at 
Carson  to  keep  open  that  night  for  an  important 
dispatch.  The  day  fixed  for  the  adjournment  of  the 
Legislature  of  Nevada  was  such  that  a  letter  would 
not  reach  the  capital  in  time  for  action  during  the  ses 
sion  of  the  Legislature. 


238         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

To  secure  the  vote  of  Nevada  for  the  ratification  of 
the  amendment,  I  telegraphed  its  full  text  to  the  Legis 
lature,  requiring  it  to  be  repeated  back  to  me. 

Promptly  at  nine  o'clock  I  called  at  General  Grant's 
headquarters  in  the  Winder  Building.  The  General 
arrived  about  the  same  time.  I  told  him  of  the  pas 
sage  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  by  both  Houses  of 
Congress.  He  said  he  was  glad  of  it,  and  asked  what 
he  could  do  to  secure  its  adoption. 

"Recommend  it  in  your  inaugural  address,"  said  I, 
"and  its  adoption  is  certain."  He  sent  for  three  or  four 
of  his  generals  who  were  in  the  building;  they  came 
to  his  room  and  he  told  them  that  the  Fifteenth  Amend 
ment  had  been  passed  and  that  he  would  recommend  it 
in  his  inaugural. 

President  Grant,  in  his  inaugural  address  of  March 
4,  1869,  said: 

The  question  of  suffrage  is  one  which  is  likely  to  agitate  the 
public  as  long  as  a  portion  of  the  citizens  of  the  nation  are 
excluded  from  its  privilege  in  any  State.  It  seems  to  me  very 
desirable  that  this  question  should  be  settled  now,  and  I  entertain 
the  hope  and  express  the  desire  that  it  may  be  by  the  ratification 
of  the  fifteenth  article  of  the  amendment  to  the  Constitution. 

It  would  have  been  much  wiser  to  adopt  restrictions, 
excluding  the  ignorant,  vicious,  and  incompetent  of  all 
classes  by  tests  which  would  limit  the  voting  popula 
tion  to  intelligent  citizens  with  some  interest  in  the  wel 
fare  of  the  country.  But  the  effect  of  the  amendment 
has  been  what  I  supposed  it  would  be,  to  secure  for  the 
negro  in  the  Northern  States  his  right  to  vote  without 
interruption. 


CHAPTER    XXVI 

I  am  denounced  by  Charles  Sumner — An  overestimated  statesman — 
My  reply  to  him  in  the  Senate — How  Lincoln  played  on  Sum- 
ner's  vanity — Sumner's  denunciation  of  Grant  at  a  dinner  to  the 
British  Commission — He  is  deposed  from  important  Senate 
chairmanship — A  State  secret. 

Charles  Sumner  was  a  spectacular  character.  The 
assault  that  Congressman  Brooks  of  South  Carolina 
made  on  him  in  the  Senate  Chamber  shortly  before  the 
war  created  intense  indignation  throughout  the  North. 
The  elder  Francis  P.  Blair,  who  was  at  the  time 
manipulating  anti-slavery  politics,  took  Sumner  to  his 
house  and  caused  his  injuries  to  be  advertised  in  a  most 
exaggerated  manner.  Sumner  was  an  actor,  and  played 
the  martyr  to  the  admiration  of  his  friends. 

When  the  Senators  from  the  South  retired  Sumner 
fell  heir  to  the  chairmanship  of  the  Committee  on 
Foreign  Relations.  His  egotism  was  such  as  to  make 
it  impossible  for  him  to  admit  that  he  had  an  equal  in 
either  house  of  Congress.  There  was  only  one  man  in 
Washington  who  understood  him  and  knew  how  to 
manage  him,  and  that  was  President  Lincoln,  who 
seemed  to  know  everything. 

He  kept  Sumner  in  line,  and  made  him  useful,  by 
sending  for  him  about  twice  a  week  for  consultation. 
After  consulting  him  a  while,  he  would  allow  him  to 
leave,  but  before  Sumner  could  get  out  of  the  grounds 
of  the  White  House  Lincoln  would  send  a  servant 
after  him  and  call  him  back  to  consult  him  about  some 
other  important  matter,  and  by  his  adroit  tactics  he 
made  Sumner  think  he  was  running  the  Government, 
commanding  all  the  armies,  and  regulating  all  the  civil 
affairs  of  the  United  States. 

After  the  passage   of  the  reconstruction  measures, 


240        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Congress  passed  laws  prescribing  the  conditions  upon 
which  the  Southern  States  might  renew  their  relations 
with  the  Union.  Ireported  a  bill  from  the  Judiciary 
Committee  providing  for  the  rehabilitation  of  Virginia 
upon  certain  conditions,  which  became  a  law.  Virginia 
complied  literally  with  all  the  provisions  of  the  law, 
and  I  reported  from  the  Judiciary  Committee  another 
bill  to  restore  Virginia  to  the  Union.  Governor-elect 
Walker  of  Virginia  occupied  a  seat  on  the  floor  of  the 
Senate  while  the  bill  was  under  consideration. 

Mr.  Sumner  denounced  him  as  a  traitor.  I  called 
the  attention  of  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  to  the 
fact  that  Governor  Walker  had  been  a  loyal  man 
throughout  the  war,  and  that  he  had  done  nothing  to 
provoke  unfavorable  criticism.  I  insisted  that  he  had 
a  right  to  respectful  consideration.  We  had  agreed  to 
take  a  vote  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  About  ten 
minutes  before  that  hour  Mr.  Sumner,  having  the 
floor,  said,  "The  Senator  from  Nevada  having  be 
trayed  the  cause,  it  is  natural  for  him  to  defend 
traitors."  He  continued  to  talk  until  the  hour  of 
four  o'clock. 

I  asked  unanimous  consent  to  reply,  which  was  very 
properly  denied  by  the  Senate,  but  I  gave  Mr.  Sumner 
notice  that  I  would  make  a  formal  reply  when  the  bill 
for  the  admission,  or  rather  rehabilitation,  of  the 
State  of  Mississippi  was  reached.  During  the  debate 
on  the  Virginia  bill  Mr.  Sumner  was  very  boastful. 
He  said  he  was  the  author  of  the  provision  in  the 
reconstruction  measure  which  conferred  suffrage  on  the 
negro.  He  also  said  that  he  voted  for  the  Fifteenth 
Amendment.  When  the  bill  for  the  admission  of 
Mississippi  was  before  the  Senate  I  took  occasion  to 
prove  that  both  of  these  statements  were  false. 

I  showed  by  the  record  that  Mr.  Bingham  of  Ohio 
was  the  author  of  the  provision  in  the  reconstruction 
measure  conferring  suffrage,  and  that  Mr.  Elaine  had 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

offered  a  substitute  for  Bingham's  resolution  in  the 
House  of  Representatives,  which  Bingham  accepted; 
it  was  afterward  knpwn  as  the  Blaine  amendment.  I 
said  that  Mr.  Sumner  had  denounced  the  amendment 
as  an  absurdity  from  beginning  to  end,  and  I  declared 
that  Mr.  Sumner  not  only  failed  to  vote  for  the  Fif 
teenth  Amendment,  but  absented  himself  before  the 
vote  was  reached. 

After  I  had  concluded  my  remarks  Mr.  Sumner  took 
the  floor  and  vigorously  contended  that  he  was  an  anti- 
slavery  man,  and  had  been  for  a  long  time.  To  prove 
that  he  was,  he  brought  in  a  pile  of  pamphlets,  four  or 
five  inches  thick,  which  he  said  were  evidence  of  his 
anti-slavery  record.  But  he  did  not  respond  to  my  argu 
ment.  He  neither  affirmed  nor  denied  what  I  had 
charged.  Said  I : 

"Mr.  President:  The  Senator  from  Massachusetts 
said  in  the  outset  that  he  did  not  commence  controversy 
with  anybody.  That  shows  how  perfectly  unconscious  he 
must  be  of  his  own  course  in  the  Senate.  'I  never  make 
an  attack  on  a  Senator;  I  never  begin  any  controversy,' 
he  once  before  said.  The  records  of  this  Senate  will 
not  bear  any  man  out  in  such  a  statement. 

"But  when  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  and 
myself  were  on  the  most  friendly  relations,  when  nothing 
had  occurred  between  us  to  mar  those  relations,  and 
while  I  was  advocating  the  admission  of  Virginia  as 
innocently  and  as  earnestly  as  possible,  not  thinking 
that  I  was  deserting  the  principles  of  the  Republican 
party,  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts  used  the  follow 
ing  language : 

"  'Something  has  been  said  by  different  Senators  of 
plighted  faith.  Sir,  there  is  a  faith  that  is  plighted,  and 
by  that  I  will  stand,  God  willing,  to  the  end.  Let  the 
Senator  from  Nevada  desert;  let  him,  joining  the 
Democrats,  take  the  other  course;  but  I  stand  firm  by 
the  plighted  faith  of  this  great  Republic.'  " 

16 


242         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

"Read  on,"  thundered  Sumner,  "read  the  next  sen 
tence." 

"Oh,  I  beg  your  pardon,"  said  I,  amid  laughter,  "I 
am  not  your  reading-clerk.  Who  made  the  first  attack? 
After  he  had  made  that  attack  I  referred  to  the  fact 
that  he  had  opposed  the  Fifteenth  Amendment;  and  I 
challenged  him  then  to  say  whether  or  not  he  voted  for 
that  amendment  to  the  Constitution.  Now  he  gets  up 
here  and  reads  his  biography.  Nobody  questions  his 
biography.  Nobody  questions  that  he  issued  the 
pamphlets  that  he  has  read.  But  are  they  in  laws? 
Have  they  been  reduced  to  form?  The  point  is  not 
whether  he  has  said  a  great  many  things  on  behalf  of 
equal  rights,  but  whether  he  has  been  practical;  whether 
he  has  ever  been  in  favor  of  the  bill  under  consideration 
to  secure  equal  rights;  whether  he  has  not  dealt  in 
generalities,  and  occupied  in  abstractions  the  time  that 
ought  to  have  been  used  in  legislation ;  and  whether  he 
has  by  that  acquired  a  position  that  authorizes  him  to 
read  out  of  the  party  me  or  any  other  Senator  who  is 
trying  to  do  his  duty;  whether  he  has  a  right  to  issue 
a  bull  of  excommunication;  whether  he  is  the  Pope  of 
the  Senate  to  issue  his  thunderbolts  of  anathema!  It 
seems  that  he  is  the  only  'principle'  in  the  Senate.  I 
know  complaint  is  made  of  our  occupying  time ;  but  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  is  our  only  principle;  and 
can  we  not  discuss  principle?  He  is  the  only  man  that 
lectures  us  on  principle  when  we  want  to  legislate;  and 
we  may  as  well  occupy  the  time  of  the  Senate  in  discuss 
ing  this  principle." 

"Will  my  friend  permit  me  to  ask  him  a  question?" 
interrupted  Senator  Edmunds. 

"No;  I  will  not  yield  to  anybody,"  said  I. 

"I  was  only  going  to  ask  him  to  end  the  controversy. 
He  says  he  never  begins  one,"  said  Edmunds. 

"Now,"  said  I,  "how  much  has  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  proved  of  the  precise  issue  that  I  made, 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         243 

that  he  was  not  the  author  of  that  provision?  How 
much  has  he  proved  to  entitle  him  to  this  high-sounding 
pretension?  The  Senator  dwelt  especially  on  the  first 
act  of  reconstruction,  known  as  'the  act  to  provide  for 
the  more  efficient  government  of  the  rebel  States/  and 
charges  that  I  did  not  vote  for  it.  This  assault  to-day 
compels  me  to  make  a  statement  now  which  I  never 
supposed  I  should  be  called  to  make.  I  make  it  now 
with  hesitation,  but  rather  to  show  his  course  than  my 
own.  Sir,  I  am  the  author  of  the  provision  in  that  act 
conferring  suffrage." 

"The  Senator  again  does  not  read  the  whole  sen 
tence,"  was  Sumner's  only  response. 

uThe  Senator  has  read  it,"  I  replied.  "It  has  been 
read  here  repeatedly.  What  is  there  in  it?  He  did 
vote  for  this  particular  provision,  but  he  did  not  vote 
for  the  bill  when  it  was  in;  but  to-day  he  says 
'unhappily'  the  Senate  would  not  agree  to  the  Elaine 
amendment,  which  the  majority  of  the  Republicans  of 
the  House  had  voted  in.  'Unhappily!'  What  did  the 
Senator  from  Massachusetts  do  to  help  to  put  it  in? 
When  that  was  under  discussion  I  was  advocating  it;  he 
was  opposing  it.  Speaking  of  the  Elaine  amendment 
before  the  caucus  was  held,  the  Senator  said  in  the 
Senate : 

'There  is  another  amendment*  that  ought  to  come 
in  in  that  same  connection,  though  I  feel  that  this  whole 
proposition  is  so  thoroughly  vicious  in  every  line  and  in 
every  word  from  the  first  to  the  last  that  in  order  to 
make  it  at  all  so  as  to  receive,  it  seems  to  me,  a  single 
vote,  it  ought  to  be  amended  from  the  first  word  to 
the  last.'  " 

"Then  Mr.  Hendricks,  as  he  had  an  artful  way 
of  doing,  interposed  and  complimented  the  Senator  from 
Massachusetts  for  the  advanced  position  he  occupied. 
These  advanced  positions  have  always  annoyed  us  in 

*Cong.  Globe,  2nd  Sess.,  39th  Cong.,  p.  1392. 


244         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

BJl&fc1 

legislation.  Discovering  the  embarrassment  of  our 
party  that  we  were  struggling  to  get  out  of,  Mr.  Hend- 
ricks  gave  the  Senator  a  compliment  about  wanting 
something  else,  knowing  his  weakness  to  be  for  'the 
other  bill,'  and  that  it  would  always  be  for  'the  other 
bill,'  and  Hr.  Hendricks  said: 

'  'If  the  Senator  will  give  way  I  will  make  a  motion 
that  the  Senate  adjourn;  but  before  I  make  the  motion 
I  wish  to  suggest  that  this  is  no  ordinary  legislation  in 
which  we  are  concerned.  It  is,  in  my  judgment,  the 
gravest  legislation  that  has  ever  occupied  Congress.  It 
is  claimed  by  its  friends  to  be  the  work  of  reconstruction 
of  our  Government;  it  is  believed  by  its  enemies  to  be 
the  work  of  destruction.  Now,  whether  the  friends  of 
the  measure  be  right  in  this  opinion,  or  the  enemies  be 
right  in  their  very  opposite  opinion,  this  is  true,  that 
the  subject  is  worthy  of  consideration.  It  is  now  nearly 
two  o'clock  at  night.  The  majority  have  occupied 
almost  as  much  time  as  they  say  they  desire,  with  the 
exception  of  the  distinguished  Senator  from  Massachu 
setts,  as  he  intends  to  tear  this  amendment  shred  from 
shred  and  make  it  a  logical  absurdity!' 

"  'That  it  is,'  said  Sumner,  'right  on  its  face.' 

"This  was  the  Blaine  amendment,  'a  logical  absurdity 
on  its  face,'  and  he  was  going  to  tear  it  shred  from 
shred;  there  was  nothing  good  in  it!  I  recollect  the 
time  that  was  occupied  in  getting  this  into  practical 
shape.  Now,  I  never  have  questioned  that  the  Senator 
from  Massachusetts  has  been  for  long  years  the  strenu 
ous  advocate  of  the  abstract  principle  of  equal  rights; 
but  I  never  knew  him  to  be  for  it  when  there  was  any 
chance  to  make  it  a  law,  and  that  is  the  point  at  issue. 

"The  point  at  issue  is  whether  he  is  the  author  of  this 
particular  provision,  whether  he  helped  to  make  it  the 
law.  The  point  at  issue  is  whether  he  voted  for  the 
Fifteenth  Amendment,  and  helped  to  put  that  in  the 
Constitution.  These  are  the  practical  points  now  under 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         245 

consideration.  Everybody  admits,  the  world  knows, 
that  he  has  made  more  speeches  advocating  the  general 
principle  than  anybody  else ;  but  what  good  are  those 
speeches,  of  what  practical  use  are  the  pamphlets  con 
taining  them  ?  They  are  not  statutes.  I  reckon  if  there 
had  not  been  more  practical  brains  than  he  has,  to  put 
them  in  shape  and  get  them  adopted,  the  poor  black 
man  would  still  be  without  the  ballot,  and  perhaps  would 
be  forever. 

"It  is  easy  to  make  speeches  in  and  out  of  Congress. 
I  never  attacked  the  Senator's  pile  of  pamphlets,  and 
I  hope  I  never  shall.  No  man  of  ordinary  courage 
would  attack  such  a  pile  anyhow.  But  where  is  the 
statute  that  the  Senator  has  incorporated  this  principle 
in?  Where  is  his  authority  to  say  that  he  has  all  the 
judgment  there  is  in  the  Senate,  or  all  the  judgment 
there  is  in  the  country  upon  the  points  at  issue?  I  deny 
such  judgment  to  the  Senator.  He  is  a  theorist,  a 
grand,  gorgeous,  extensive  theorist,  but  he  is  not  a 
practical  man,  and  my  experience  is  that  he  has  failed 
utterly  to  help  us  to  get  practical  measures.  There  is 
hardly  any  Senator  who  has  been  here  for  the  last  five 
years  who  has  not  got  more  of  his  work  in  the  statute- 
book  than  the  Senator  from  Massachusetts. 

"Sir,*  I  never  should  have  said  a  word  about  this 
if  it  was  not  important  to  me  to  show  that  the  man  who 
read  me  out  of  the  party  is  not  recorded  to  any  consid 
erable  extent  on  the  measures  which  have  inserted  these 
principles  in  the  statute-book.  He  is  impractical.  I 
want  it  known,  also,  that  on  this  occasion  he  has  not 
the  frankness  to  state  on  this  floor  whether  or  not  he 
voted  for  the  Fifteenth  Amendment,  so  that  his  state 
ment  may  go  in  comparison  with  mine  for  what  it  is 
worth. 

"I  want  the  country  to  know  how  much  his  statement 


Congressional   Globe,   ist   Sess.,   39th  Cong.,  Part  II,  pp.   1182, 
1183. 


246         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

is  worth,  how  good  his  recollection  is  when  he  says  he 
attacks  nobody.  I  want  them  to  understand  it.  They 
shall  understand  it.  I  shall  give  them  occasion  to  under 
stand  it  every  time  he  attacks  me  in  the  Senate. 
Gentlemen  may  complain  of  the  time  occupied,  but  I 
will  never  be  the  aggressor  upon  any  Senator  here.  I 
struggled  against  him  on  the  reconstruction  measures, 
and  the  debates  show  the  controversy  between  him  and 
me  on  the  Elaine  amendment  from  beginning  to  end, 
and  on  the  fifteenth  constitutional  amendment.  Those 
are  the  two  great  provisions  by  which  suffrage  has  been 
secured  to  the  black  man.  I  say  I  have  a  right  to  be 
heard,  and  he  has  no  right  to  read  me  out  of  the  party." 

General  Grant  did  not  know  the  character  of  Sumner. 
He  judged  of  him  from  the  high  position  he  occupied 
as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations. 
When  there  was  an  opportunity  to  acquire  the  island  of 
San  Domingo  he  left  the  White  House  and  called  on 
Mr.  Sumner  at  his  residence,  a  most  unusual  thing  for 
a  President  to  do.  He  laid  before  Mr.  Sumner  all  the 
facts  he  had  in  his  possession  with  regard  to  the  feasi 
bility  of  annexing  San  Domingo. 

President  Grant  informed  his  Cabinet  that  Mr. 
Sumner,  as  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign 
Relations,  was  heartily  in  favor  of  the  acquisition  of 
San  Domingo,  and  advised  President  Grant  to  make  a 
treaty  for  that  purpose.  President  Grant  and  his  Secre 
tary  of  State,  Hamilton  Fish,  made  a  treaty  for  the 
acquisition  of  San  Domingo,  and  sent  it  to  the  Senate 
for  ratification. 

Mr.  Sumner  opposed  it  most  bitterly  and  denounced 
it  in  unmeasured  terms.  When  Senators  called  his 
attention  to  the  fact  that  he  advised  the  President  to 
make  it,  he  denied  that  he  had  given  any  such  advice. 
He  was  plied  with  questions  from  many  Senators,  calling 
his  attention  to  the  exact  language  which  he  used  as 
reported  by  President  Grant.  When  asked  if  he  did 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         247 

not  say  to  President  Grant  that  the  treaty  met  his 
cordial  approbation,  he  dodged,  and  said  that  he  told 
the  President  that  anything  that  he  was  disposed  to  do 
would  receive  cordial  consideration  from  him,  but  that 
that  was  only  intended  to  be  respectful  to  the  President. 
No  fair-minded  man  doubted  that  President  Grant  told 
the  truth  and  that  Sumner  did  not. 

Later  on,  and  during  Grant's  first  term,  a  large  and 
influential  body  of  men  came  from  England,  represent 
ing  both  political  parties  of  that  country,  to  settle  the 
Alabama  claims.  They  gave  many  dinners  and  were 
tendered  many  such  honors  by  the  leading  statesmen  of 
both  political  parties  in  the  United  States.  A  dinner 
was  given  by  one  of  the  Englishmen,  whose  name  I  do 
not  now  recall,  at  which  Secretary  Fish,  Senator  Sumner, 
chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and 
Senator  Dickson,  of  Connecticut,  were  guests.  One  of 
the  Englishmen  remarked  during  the  dinner  that  Presi 
dent  Grant  seemed  to  be  very  popular,  and  that 
undoubtedly  he  would  be  elected  President  for  a  second 
term. 

"No,  he'll  be  impeached  for  high  crimes  and  misde 
meanors.  I  tell  you,  he  will  be  impeached  for  high 
crimes  and  misdemeanors!"  exclaimed  Senator  Sumner 
in  a  loud  voice.  This  stopped  all  conversation  at  the 
dinner  for  some  minutes,  until  it  could  be  switched  to 
the  weather. 

Senator  Dickson  met  me  as  the  Senate  was  about  to 
convene  the  next  morning,  and  told  me  the  circum 
stances.  I  took  him  immediately  to  Senator  Anthony 
of  Rhode  Island,  who  was  chairman  of  the  Senate 
caucus.  I  advised  him  to  send  for  Mr.  Fish,  which  he 
did. 

Mr.  Fish  went  into  the  Marble  Room  and  the 
Republican  Senators  were  invited  to  meet  him.  He 
stated  what  had  occurred  at  the  dinner  in  the  same 
language  which  Mr.  Dickson  had  used  in  reporting  it 


248         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

to  me.  While  Mr.  Fish  was  still  in  the  Marble  Room, 
one  of  the  English  delegates,  passing  through  the  corri 
dor,  met  a  Senator,  who  inquired  of  him  as  to  what 
Mr.  Sumner  had  said  at  the  dinner  the  night  before. 
The  English  delegate  said  that  he  could  not  be  a  witness 
to  such  an  affair. 

After  the  Senators  had  been  fully  informed  by  Mr. 
Fish  as  to  what  had  occurred  at  the  dinner,  Anthony 
moved  an  adjournment  of  the  Senate,  and  called  a 
caucus  of  Republican  Senators.  All  attended  except  Mr. 
Sumner.  Senator  Anthony  sent  the  Sergeant-at-Arms 
for  him. 

When  Mr.  Sumner  entered,  Senator  Anthony  stated 
to  him  what  the  Secretary  of  State  and  Senator  Dickson 
had  informed  the  Republican  Senators.  Mr.  Sumner 
said  there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  it.  He  stoutly 
maintained  that  President  Grant  was  not  alluded  to  at 
the  dinner,  and  walked  out. 

A  motion  was  made  to  elect  Simon  Cameron  chairman 
of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  and  it  was 
unanimously  carried  without  a  word  of  debate.  This 
act  of  the  caucus  in  deposing  Sumner  from  his  important 
chairmanship  was  never  divulged,  because  each  Senator 
felt  that  it  was  humiliating  to  the  country  to  make 
such  a  transaction  public  at  that  time.  An  agreement 
to  keep  it  secret  was  entered  into. 

The  newspapers  assumed  that  President  Grant  had 
had  Sumner  removed  from  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Relations,  or,  at  all  events,  that 
it  was  done  through  the  influence  of  the  President.  The 
fact  was  that  President  Grant  never  suggested  such 
action  and  knew  nothing  about  it,  until  after  it  was 
done. 

Senator  Sumner  and  Carl  Schurz,  then  Senator  from 
Missouri,  continued  to  make  war  on  President  Grant's 
Administration.  They  got  up  a  French  arms  investiga 
tion,  alleging  that  President  Grant  was  in  complicity 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         249 

with  contractors  furnishing  arms  to  France  in  the 
Franco-Prussian  War.  So  great  was  the  enmity  of 
Sumner  against  Grant  that  he  left  the  Republican  party 
and  supported  Mr.  Greeley,  the  Democratic  nominee, 
for  President.  If  President  Grant  had  known  of  the 
vanity,  egotism,  and  impracticability  of  Mr.  Sumner,  he 
could  have  made  him  a  servitor  as  Mr.  Lincoln  did. 

I  have  written  this  with  regard  to  Mr.  Sumner  in 
vindication  of  the  truth  of  history,  knowing  that  his 
admirers  are  deceived  as  to  his  true  character. 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

With  Grant  on  the  Pacific  Coast— White  House  Confidences— I 
decline  a  Supreme  Court  appointment — The  Apaches  on  the  war 
path — Confirmation  of  Tom  Murphy — A  dramatic  scene  in  the 
Senate — Conkling  threatens  to  expose  Fenton — A  mock  fight  in 
the  Senate  to  save  a  friend. 

It  was  my  good  fortune  to  make  the  acquaintance  of 
Ulysses  S.  Grant  when  he  was  a  young  lieutenant  in  the 
Army,  stationed  on  the  Pacific  Coast.  I  was  with  him 
frequently  in  San  Francisco,  and  night  after  night  we 
would  wander  around  the  city  together,  visiting  games, 
and  saloons  and  other  sights. 

We  had  many  adventures  in  those  early  days,  and 
perhaps  I  would  not  stretch  the  truth  in  saying  that  we 
were  a  trifle  wild.  Young  Grant  drank  considerably 
and  he  had  no  advantage  of  me  in  this  respect. 

When  he  arrived  in  Washington  at  the  close  of  the 
war,  the  victorious  commander  of  the  armies  of  the 
United  States,  we  renewed  our  acquaintance,  and  met 
often  to  talk  over  old  times.  He  gave  me  some  inside 
information  as  to  his  doings  in  the  Army;  I  told  him 
what  was  what  in  the  Senate.  After  his  election  to  the 
Presidency  I  saw  him  even  more  frequently. 

In  1871  he  tendered  me  an  appointment  to  the 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States,  and  was  anxious 
that  I  should  accept,  but,  after  considering  the  matter 
for  a  short  time,  I  declined  it.  I  have  always  been 
devoted  to  the  law,  but  life  on  the  bench  seemed  too 
inactive,  and  the  more  stirring  career  in  the  Senate 
appealed  to  me  far  more  strongly. 

Both  of  us  were  great  smokers.  The  habit  cost  him 
his  life;  I  abandoned  it  the  night  the  people  elected 
Grover  Cleveland  President  of  the  United  States.  I 
did  not  want  to  increase  the  revenues  during  his  admin 
istration  by  paying  duty  on  cigars. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         251 

One  night  in  nearly  every  week  during  Grant's  first 
term  I  visited  the  White  House,  when  the  President 
and  I  would  retire  to  a  private  room  to  smoke  and  talk. 
He  was  a  slow  but  accurate  conversationalist.  He  never 
said  a  foolish  thing  in  my  hearing.  On  these  con 
fidential  occasions  Grant  would  inquire  of  me  as  to  the 
character  and  actions  of  various  public  men.  I  gave 
him  my  opinion  freely,  as  I  could  afford  to  do,  for  he 
always  kept  his  own  counsel.  If,  in  talking  of  public 
men,  or  events,  I  happened  to  vary  in  the  slightest 
degree  from  former  statements  on  the  same  subjects, 
or  from  former  opinions,  he  would  call  my  attention 
to  the  discrepancy,  and  ask  me  why  I  had  changed  my 
mind. 

His  memory  was  not  only  remarkable — it  was  per 
fect.  On  one  occasion,  I  remember,  while  he  was  Presi 
dent,  he  visited  Oregon,  where,  years  before,  he  had 
served  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  Army.  Hundreds  of  per 
sons  called  upon  him,  persons  he  had  known  in  his  days 
just  after  West  Point.  He  called  every  one  of  them  by 
name. 

One  of  the  striking  accomplishments  of  James  G. 
Elaine  was  his  capacity  for  remembering  the  names  of 
those  with  whom  he  had  had  a  slight  acquaintance. 
But  he  frequently  required  the  assistance  of  a  prompter. 
Grant  did  not  need  any  prompting.  His  memory  for 
names  was  wonderful.  During  his  entire  public  career 
I  do  not  believe  he  ever  forgot  the  name  of  any  per 
son  whom  he  had  ever  met.  Elaine  has  been  given  great 
credit  for  his  memory.  He  cultivated  it  for  the  politi 
cal  benefit  which  it  gave  him.  Grant's  memory  was  a 
natural,  untutored  gift. 

It  is  said  of  George  Washington  that  he  could  not 
tell  a  lie.  I  venture  the  assertion  that  Grant  never  did 
tell  a  lie.  He  loved  the  truth,  and  always  spoke  it,  if 
he  spoke  at  all,  regardless  of  the  consequences.  The 
name  of  Grant,  his  great  deeds  in  the  Union  cause,  his 


252         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

justice  and  impartiality  as  President,  will  descend 
through  all  the  ages,  and  the  book  he  wrote  to  be  left 
as  a  heritage  to  his  widow  and  family,  with  the  death 
rattle  in  his  throat,  will  remain  a  model  for  all  brave 
commanders  who  may  hereafter  tell  of  their  victories. 

Shortly  after  General  Grant  became  President  for 
the  first  time,  in  1869,  on  my  recommendation  he 
appointed  A.  P.  K.  Safford,  of  Nevada,  Governor  of 
Arizona,  which  had  recently  been  formed  into  a  Ter 
ritory.  The  Apache  Indians,  who  lived  by  robbery  and 
plunder,  extended  their  predatory  jurisdiction  from  the 
Colorado  River  to  the  City  of  Mexico.  There  was  no 
chance  to  establish  a  government  of  law  in  Arizona, 
where  the  Apaches  reigned  supreme.  The  few  Ameri 
can  citizens  there  considered  themselves  fortunate  if 
they  could  remain  safe  in  Tucson,  the  capital. 

General  George  Stoneman  was  in  command  of  the 
Southern    California    and    Arizona    department.      He    Q 
resided  at  Los  Angeles.     He  was  very  much  adverse      t 
to  fighting  Indians  or  having  anything  to  do  with"  ~ffn^ 
zona.    When  complaints  were  made  to  President  Grant 
of  the  depredations  of  Indians  in  Arizona,  Stoneman 
would  invariably  reply  that  there  was  no  trouble  in  the 
Territory.     He  said  that  contractors  made  the  com 
plaints  in  order  to  get  money  from  the  Government  for 
the  transportation  of  supplies  for  troops. 

I  called  on  President  Grant  several  times,  and  told 
him  that  the  citizens  of  Arizona  were  entitled  to  pro 
tection.  Each  time  he  replied  that  General  Stoneman 
had  reported  there  was  no  disorder.  The  President  said 
that  I  must  bring  proof.  I  wrote  to  Governor  Safford 
to  make  a  scrap-book  and  paste  into  it  the  newspaper 
accounts  of  the  murders  in  Arizona,  and  also  affidavits 
as  to  all  outrages  committed  by  the  Indians,  giving  the 
full  circumstances  of  each  case. 

Governor  Safford  sent  me  the  scrap-book,  containing 
accounts  of  about  two  hundred  such  cases.  I  showed  it 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         253 

to  General  Grant,  who  said  that  he  did  not  like  to  take 
action  against  the  report  of  General  Stoneman,  and  he 
referred  me  to  the  Secretary  of  War. 

William  Worth  Belknap  was  then  Secretary  of  War. 
I  went  to  him,  told  him  the  facts,  and  opened  that  scrap- 
book  on  the  desk  before  him.  He  hesitated,  and  began 
talking  about  Stoneman. 

"I  didn't  come  here  to  talk  about  Stoneman,"  said  I. 
"I  came  here  to  talk  about  protecting  American  citi 
zens  in  Arizona."  Then  I  put  the  scrap-book  under  my 
arm,  and  walked  out  of  his  office  rather  abruptly,  and 
went  back  to  the  White  House  to  see  the  President 
again.  And  I  was  pretty  angry,  too. 

"Well,"  said  President  Grant,  "what  did  Belknap 
say?" 

"He  says  nothing,"  said  I.  "He  simply  talks 
about  Stoneman."  At  that  moment  the  door  opened, 
and  the  Secretary  of  War  came  into  the  room,  looking 
very  wise. 

"What  objection  have  you  to  Stoneman,  Senator?" 
continued  the  President. 

"I  have  two  objections  to  him,"  I  answered.  "I 
believe  he  lies,  and  I  believe  he  is  too  old  to  have 
charge  of  that  department." 

"He  is  not  older  than  I  am,"  retorted  President 
Grant,  with  an  injured  air,  so  I  side-stepped. 

"Why,"  said  I,  "he  hasn't  been  able  to  ride  a  horse 
for  twenty  years, — that's  why  he  doesn't  want  to  go 
into  the  field  against  the  Indians, — and  it  will  be  some 
time  before  you  are  so  old  that  you  can't  ride."  The 
President  laughed  and  said: 

"What  do  you  want?" 

"I  want  Colonel  Crook,  who  has  been  fighting  the 
Bannocks  in  northern  California  and  Oregon,  sent 
down  to  Arizona  to  fight  the  Apaches.*  He  has  fought 


*George   Crook — lieutenant-colonel,   Twenty-third   Infantry,  July 
28,  1866;  brigadier-general,  October  29,  1873. 


254         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

and  whipped  the  Bannocks,  and  he  is  the  only  Indian 
fighter  I  know  in  the  Army." 

President  Grant  turned  to  Belknap.  "Mr.  Secre 
tary,"  he  said,  "make  a  temporary  assignment  of 
Colonel  Crook  to  Arizona." 

The  following  day  Belknap  issued  the  order.  Stone- 
man,  because  of  this  action,  asked  to  be  placed  on  the 
retired  list,  and  his  request  was  granted.  He  later 
became  a  candidate  for  Governor  of  California  on  the 
Democratic  ticket,  and  was  compelled  to  resign  his 
commission  in  the  Army  to  accept  that  office.*  At  the 
expiration  of  his  term  of  service  as  Governor  he  lost 
his  property,  and  was  in  bad  health.  I  secured  an 
amendment  to  the  current  army  appropriation  bill  to 
put  him  back  on  the  retired  list. 

Colonel  Crook,  with  a  mere  handful  of  Federal 
soldiers,  subjugated  the  Apaches,  who  had  been  domi 
nant  in  the  Southwest  for  more  than  a  hundred  years. 
He  was  indefatigable;  he  created  jealousies  between 
various  Apache  chiefs,  and  contrived  to  make  different 
bands  of  that  warlike  people  fight  against  each  other 
until  their  commander,  old  Cachees,f  was  forced  to 
lay  down  his  arms.  Since  then  civil  government  has 
been  maintained  in  Arizona. 

When  General  Grant  became  President  he  was 
unfamiliar  with  the  political  situation  in  the  State  of 
New  York.  Governor  Reuben  E.  Fenton  was  elected 
Senator  and  took  his  seat  March  4,  1869,  the  same 
day  that  General  Grant  took  the  oath  of  office  as 
President. 

President  Grant  thought  that  Fenton,  having  been 
Governor,  represented  New  York,  and  acted  accord 
ingly.  He  did  not  appear  to  recognize  the  fact  that 
Conkling,  who  had  served  several  terms  in  the  House 

*Retired  August   16,   1871.     Reinstated   September  15,   1882. 
fCochise.    A  Chiricahua  Apache  chief.     Surrendered  in  Septem 
ber,  1871,  but  escaped  in  1872.    Died  June  8,  1874. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         255 

of  Representatives,  and  was  then  Senator  from  New 
York,  was  a  power  to  consider.  He  therefore  appointed 
the  friends  of  Governor  Fenton  and  ignored  Senator 
Conkling.  During  the  summer  vacation  President 
Grant  took  up  his  residence  at  Long  Branch,  where  he 
met  Tom  Murphy,  who  was  very  serviceable  to  him. 
Being  thoroughly  acquainted  with  the  country,  and  quite 
a  horseman,  Murphy  was  able  to  make  himself  a  friend 
of  the  President.  After  becoming  intimate  with  Mur 
phy,  President  Grant  thought  that  he  was  a  fit  person 
to  be  made  Collector  of  the  Port  of  New  York. 

The  President  appointed  Murphy  without  consulta 
tion  with  either  of  the  Senators.  Fenton  had  a  candi 
date  for  that  place,  and  felt  much  aggrieved  to  be 
ignored  in  a  manner  which  he  thought  was  not  only 
uncivil  but  unjust.  When  Congress  convened,  Conkling, 
who  was  my  personal  friend,  told  me  that  if  it  had 
been  left  to  him  he  should  not  have  selected  Mr. 
Murphy.  He  said  there  was  another  person,  a  politi 
cal  friend,  who  had  performed  such  services  to  the 
party  and  to  the  country  as  entitled  him  to  the  place. 
He  knew  that  his  colleague  was  making  a  very  bitter 
fight  against  the  confirmation  of  Murphy,  and  realized 
that  if  he  joined  with  him  in  opposition,  Murphy  would 
undoubtedly  be  defeated,  and  a  less  deserving  man 
probably  appointed  in  his  place. 

I  told  him  that  under  the  circumstances  I  knew  of 
no  course  to  be  pursued  by  him  but  to  secure  the  con 
firmation  of  Murphy's  appointment.  I  pointed  out  to 
him  that,  during  the  struggle  on  his  part  to  confirm 
Murphy,  and  the  struggle  on  the  part  of  Senator  Fen 
ton  to  defeat  his  confirmation,  the  President  would  be 
enlightened  as  to  the  political  situation  in  New  York, 
and  would  thereafter  undoubtedly  accord  to  him  the 
influence  to  which  he  was  entitled  as  Senator. 

Conkling  said  he  would  take  my  advice,  but  he 
thought  that  Fenton  would  postpone  action  during  the 


256         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

remainder  of  that  Congress.  I  told  him  that  that 
would  be  impossible  if  he  would  follow  my  advice. 

"What  is  your  advice?"  asked  Conkling. 

"The  nominees  of  the  President  for  confirmation  by 
the  Senate  are  taken  up  in  their  order,"  said  I,  "and 
no  pending  nomination  can  be  postponed  until  it  is 
finally  acted  upon,  if  any  Senator  insists  upon  its  con 
sideration."  Conkling  then  said  that  he  would  object 
to  laying  the  nomination  of  Murphy  aside  for  the  con 
sideration  of  any  other  nomination.  He  did  so  for 
about  six  weeks,  until  nominations  were  piled  up  and 
delayed  to  an  unusual  extent.  The  Senate  then  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  appointed  a  day  for  the  considera 
tion  of  the  confirmation  of  Tom  Murphy.  The  Senate 
went  into  executive  session  immediately  after  the  morn 
ing  business  was  transacted,  and  Senator  Fenton  took 
the  floor. 

He  read  from  newspaper  clippings,  interjecting  his 
own  comments  until  six  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  Just 
before  he  resumed  his  seat  Mr.  Conkling  came  to  me 
and  said: 

"It's  just  as  I  feared!  Fenton  will  read  newspaper 
clippings  until  he  wears  out  the  patience  of  the 
Senate,  and  they  will  lay  aside  the  consideration  of  the 


nomination." 


"No!"  said  I,  "I  shall  make  a  proposition  as  soon  as 
Fenton  takes  his  seat.  I  shall  propose  that  the  Senate 
take  a  recess  until  eight  o'clock  this  evening,  that  you 
be  given  an  hour  to  reply  to  Senator  Fenton,  and  he  be 
allowed  half  an  hour  in  final  reply,  when  the  vote  shall 
be  taken." 

At  first  Conkling  said  that  an  hour  was  not  enough. 
I  insisted.  He  then  said,  "Go  ahead." 

When  Fenton  took  his  seat  I  made  the  proposition, 
which  was  agreed  to  by  unanimous  consent.  I  knew 
we  could  have  a  quorum,  because  everybody  had  a 
desire  to  have  some  friend  confirmed.  When  the  Sen- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         257 

ate  met  in  executive  session  at  eight  o'clock  nearly 
every  Senator  was  in  his  seat. 

Conkling  immediately  began  an  oration,  every  sen 
tence  of  which  was  replete  with  logic,  sarcasm,  reason, 
and  invective.  Sometimes  the  Senators  would  rise  to 
their  feet,  so  great  was  its  effect  upon  them. 

It  so  happened  that  in  early  life  Fenton,  having 
undertaken  to  carry  $12,000  from  western  New  York 
to  Albany,  reported  the  loss  of  the  money.  He  was 
arrested,  and  the  money  was  found  secreted  in  his  bed- 
tick.  A  large  amount  of  testimony  was  taken  and  Fen- 
ton  was  discharged.  Whether  he  was  accused  justly 
or  unjustly, — most  persons  thought  unjustly, — it 
blurred  his  career.  Conkling,  and  others  who  were 
opposed  to  Senator  Fenton,  had  copies  of  the  proceed 
ings  before  the  criminal  court  at  the  time  the  matter 
was  investigated.  Toward  the  conclusion  of  his  won 
derful  speech  Conkling  walked  down  the  aisle  to  a 
point  opposite  the  seat  of  Senator  Fenton. 

"It  is  true,"  he  said,  "that  Thomas  Murphy  is  a 
mechanic,  a  hatter  by  trade;  that  he  worked  at  his 
trade  in  Albany  supporting  an  aged  father  and  mother 
and  a  crippled  brother.  And  while  he  was  thus  engaged 
there  was  another  who  visited  Albany  and  played  a  very 
different  role," — drawing  the  court  record  from  his 
pocket,  and  extending  it  toward  Senator  Fenton, — "the 
particulars  of  which  I  will  not  relate  except  at  the  special 
request  of  my  colleague." 

Fenton's  head  dropped  upon  his  desk,  as  if  he  had 
been  struck  down  with  a  club.  The  scene  in  the  Senate 
was  tragic.  Murphy  was  confirmed,  with  only  two 
dissenting  votes,  and  Grant  and  Conkling  became  sworn 
friends  for  life. 

The  inhabitants  of  the  Capital  of  the  United  States 
will  never  realize  the  debt  of  gratitude  they  owe  to 
Alexander  R.  Shepherd.  Washington,  as  planned  by 
L'Enfant,  under  the  direction  of  President  Washing- 


258         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

ton  himself,  anticipated  in  all  its  arrangements  and  out 
lines  the  grandeur  of  the  great  Republic  of  which  it  was 
made  the  capital.  The  plan  should  have  been  extended 
throughout  the  District  of  Columbia,  and  the  lines  of 
streets  and  avenues  should  have  been  produced  beyond 
the  limits  of  the  original  city.  But  the  sordid  specu 
lators  who  have  constituted  the  Boards  of  Commis 
sioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia  laid  out  the  city 
outside  of  the  original  boundary  line  to  suit  the  avarice 
of  the  gamblers  in  town  lots.  They  have  forever  marred 
the  beauty  of  the  plan  of  President  Washington  and 
his  great  engineer. 

At  the  close  of  the  war  many  of  the  streets  within 
the  original  boundary  were  blocked  with  unseemly 
structures.  No  uniform  grade  had  been  established, 
and  there  was  nothing  to  enable  the  inhabitants  to 
erect  houses  on  the  lines  or  grades  of  the  streets.  Shep 
herd,  a  native  of  Washington,  under  a  temporary  form 
of  government,  was  made  Governor  of  the  Dis 
trict  by  President  Grant,  who  had  a  rare  faculty 
of  selecting  the  right  kind  of  men  to  do  what  he 
wanted  done. 

An  effort  was  made  by  people  of  the  Mississippi 
valley,  immediately  after  the  close  of  the  war,  to 
remove  the  capital  to  a  more  central  location.  It  was 
contended  that  the  city  of  Washington  consisted  of  a 
straggling  hamlet  of  mud  holes  and  ruins  altogether 
inadequate  to  be  the  capital  of  the  nation.  Shepherd's 
great  work  stopped  the  agitation.  He  employed 
engineers,  resurveyed  the  streets  according  to  the  origi 
nal  scheme,  and  began  grading,  paving,  and  installing 
sewerage  on  a  colossal  plan.  He  did  not  wait  for 
appropriations  from  Congress,  which  probably  never 
could  have  been  secured,  but  created  an  enormous  debt 
each  year,  relying  upon  Congress  to  pay  the  bills. 
Appropriations  were  made  from  time  to  time  to  meet 
his  vast  expenditures,  and  all  deficits  created  by 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         259 

Shepherd,  not  paid  by  current  appropriations,  were 
made  a  funded  loan.  The  usual  howl  of  extravagance, 
corruption,  and  violation  of  law  was  raised  against  him. 
When  he  had  done  his  work,  and  the  slander  of  his 
enemies  had  been  exhausted,  he  retired  to  the  mountains 
of  Sonora,  Mexico,  and  engaged  in  mining.  Late  in 
life  he  paid  a  visit  to  Washington,  the  scene  of  his 
early  achievements,  where  the  people  received  him  with 
open  arms,  and  exhibited  many  marks  of  appreciation 
for  the  great  work  he  had  accomplished. 

George  C.  Gorham  was  a  forty-niner  in  California. 
He  was  law  clerk  for  Stephen  J.  Field,  who  was  after 
ward  Judge  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  California  and  a 
Justice  of  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  for 
nearly  a  third  of  a  century.  Gorham,  at  a  very  early 
age,  developed  a  capacity  for  newspaper  literature  and 
became  known  to  everybody  on  the  Pacific  coast.  He 
was  a  leader  in  politics,  formed  his  own  opinions,  and 
advocated  them  in  the  press  and  on  the  stump  with 
remarkable  ability. 

In  1867  he  was  nominated  for  Governor  of  Cali 
fornia,  but  was  defeated  by  a  few  votes  by  a  combina 
tion  of  Mugwumps  and  Democrats.  He  came  to  Wash 
ington  and  in  June,  1868,  was  elected  to  the  office  of 
Secretary  of  the  Senate,  which  he  held  for  many  years, 
serving  until  the  Forty-sixth  Congress.  The  political 
relations  between  him  and  Senator  Cole  of  California 
were  decidedly  unfriendly.  Gorham  criticised  the  Sena 
tor  rather  harshly,  using  language  familiar  to  the  West, 
but  not  suited  to  ears  fastidious. 

Cole  complained  to  a  caucus  of  the  Senate  and 
demanded  the  expulsion  of  Mr.  Gorham.  The  Senate 
caucus  appointed  a  sub-committee  to  investigate  the 
charges.  Cole  appeared  before  the  committee  and 
stated  the  charges,  and  said  that  Gorham  had  called 
him  a  bad  name,  which  he  then  and  there  repeated. 
My  colleague,  Senator  Nye,  was  the  personification  of 


260         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

good  humor,  full  of  wit  and  repartee,  and  had  great 
capacity  for  ready  speaking. 

Simon  Cameron  was  a  great  friend  of  Gorham,  and 
was  determined,  if  possible,  to  get  him  out  of  the 
scrape,  although  things  looked  dark  for  him,  Cameron, 
Nye,  Gorham,  and  myself  met  in  conference  the  even 
ing  before  the  caucus  was  to  be  held  to  hear  the  report 
of  the  committee.  We  decided  that  we  were  in  a 
predicament,  and  that  to  save  Gorham  we  would  have 
to  get  up  a  mock  fight  in  the  Senate. 

As  soon  as  the  caucus  began  Nye  took  the  floor, 
and  launched  into  a  speech  in  which  he  belittled  the 
cnarges,  and  showed  that  the  names  Gorham  had  called 
Cole  were  not  epithets  of  contempt,  but,  in  accordance 
with  the  quaint  old  customs  of  the  West,  were  terms 
of  endearment  and  affection.  A  continuous  roar  of 
laughter  greeted  Nye,  while  Cole  grew  wrathy. 

As  soon  as  Nye  resumed  his  seat,  I,  in  accordance 
with  our  scheme,  eulogized  Gorham  as  a  leader  of  the 
Republican  party  in  the  West,  and  contrasted  his  record 
with  that  of  Cole.  As  I  concluded  I  pretended  to 
grow  very  angry,  and  finally  wound  up  a  particularly 
hot  sentence  by  advancing  toward  Senator  Cole  with 
upraised  arm,  as  though  I  intended  making  a  personal 
assault  on  him. 

Cameron  thereupon  leaped  between  us,  grabbed  me 
by  the  coat-tails,  and  pulled  me  away  from  Cole,  while 
other  Senators,  who  were  not  in  the  plot,  and  took 
everything  seriously,  hurried  up  to  prevent  a  fight. 
Cameron,  in  the  midst  of  the  excitement,  moved  that 
the  caucus  adjourn,  which  was  carried  with  rapidity, 
and  he  received  the  thanks  of  most  of  the  Senators  for 
preventing  a  scene.  This  ended  the  incident.  Sena 
tor  Cole  did  not  press  his  charges  after  that  against 
Gorham. 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

Retire  from  the  Senate  and  return  to  Nevada — Mining  in  the 
Panamint — I  buy  a  mine  from  bandits,  and  secure  their  friend 
ship — Silver  cannon-balls  foil  the  outlaws — Back  to  the  law — 
The  cow-boy  reign  in  Arizona — Cattle  thieves  and  litigation. 

The  means  of  communication  between  my  State  and 
Washington  were  slow.  It  generally  required  about 
fifty  days  to  write  a  letter  and  receive  a  reply.  I  was 
engaged  in  mining  operations,  many  of  which  proved 
disastrous,  and  I  thought  it  time  to  retire  from  politics 
and  return  to  the  practice  of  law.  I  declined  to  become 
a  candidate  for  reelection  to  the  Senate,  and  William 
Sharon  was  elected  my  successor  in  1875.  I  remained 
out  of  the  Senate  two  terms. 

During  the  twelve  years  I  was  out  of  the  Senate  I 
mined,  and  practiced  law.  In  1875  I  engaged  with 
several  capitalists,  including  Senator  John  P.  Jones,  in 
a  mining  enterprise  at  Panamint,  on  the  west  side  of 
Death  Valley,  which  is  about  seventy  miles  south  of 
Bullfrog,  Nevada. 

Our  headquarters  at  Panamint  were  in  a  mountain 
ravine  where  there  were  grass  and  plenty  of  spring 
water.  A  hundred  miles  of  desert  shut  us  off  from  the 
outside  world.  In  the  mountains  was  a  narrow  gorge, 
twelve  miles  long,  the  walls  of  which  were  very  high,  and 
so  nearly  perpendicular  as  to  shut  out  the  sunlight 
for  almost  the  entire  day.  About  noon  a  few 
shafts  of  brilliance  would  penetrate  that  vast  dark 
ness. 

It  was  an  admirable  place  for  outlaws,  and  it  had  not 
been  overlooked.  A  company  of  gentlemen  engaged 
in  the  business  of  stopping  stages,  and  relieving  the 
express  box  and  passengers  of  gold  and  other  valuable 
incumbrances,  resided  in  this  secluded  nook.  They  were 


262         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

a  picturesque  crew,  with  wide-brimmed  hats,  trousers 
tucked  into  their  boots,  and  wearing  as  ornaments 
enough  guns  to  stock  a  hardware  store.  They  were  bad 
fellows,  outcasts  of  society,  who  obeyed  no  laws,  not 
even  their  own,  for  they  were  not  organized  into  a 
"gang,"  but  practiced  their  profession  in  an  entirely 
independent  manner.  They  discovered  veins  or  lodes 
of  the  precious  metals  running  across  the  edges  of  the 
ravine  which  terminated  in  this  resort  of  the  road 
agents. 

We  purchased  from  them  most  of  their  mines — which 
were  no  good  to  them,  for  they  were  too  lazy  to  work 
them — at  what  we  regarded  as  a  reasonable  price.  But 
before  selling  out  and  abandoning  their  stronghold, 
where  peace  officers  dared  not  invade,  they  desired  to 
compromise  with  Wells  Fargo  to  avoid  prosecution 
after  leaving  the  Panamint.  They  agreed  to  pay  a  por 
tion  of  the  purchase  price  to  the  express  company,  which 
had  been  a  great  sufferer  at  their  hands,  and  after  some 
negotiations  I  succeeded  in  arranging  the  matter  so  that 
the  company  absolved  them  from  at  least  a  part  of 
their  sins,  for  a  cash  consideration. 

We  then  put  men  to  work  prospecting  the  mines,  and 
concentrated  our  efforts  upon  two  ridges  about  half  a 
mile  apart,  where  croppings  on  the  surface  were  most 
bountiful  and  rich.  These  mines  were  known  as  the 
Wyoming  and  Hemlock.  We  sank  two  shafts  to  the 
depth  of  two  or  three  hundred  feet,  in  ore  from  five 
to  eight  feet  wide,  between  well  defined  walls,  and 
averaging  from  $200  to  $300  per  ton.  We  erected  a 
very  expensive  quartz  mill  and  reduction  works,  and 
continued  to  mine  the  Wyoming  and  Hemlock  veins,  but 
found,  to  our  astonishment,  that  in  each  case  the  ore 
was  a  "pipe,"  and  extended  but  a  few  feet  from  the 
shaft  in  either  direction. 

Out  of  these  pipes,  and  the  ore  on  the  surface,  we 
extracted  about  a  million  of  money,  and  if  we  could 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         263 

have  continued  a  few  months  longer  we  would  have 
received  all  our  investment  back  without  loss.  The 
abrupt  termination  of  the  ore  involved  a  large  loss  to 
the  investors. 

While  our  operations  were  in  progress  the  outlaws 
were  very  cordial,  and  they  seemed  to  like  the  locality 
so  well  that  they  could  not  be  persuaded  to  go  away,  but 
hung  around  and  acted  affectionate,  and  sociable  and 
kind.  We  were  on  such  good  terms  with  them  that 
they  did  not  hesitate  to  ask  me  when  I  expected  to  begin 
shipping  bullion,  and  then  I  realized  they  had  sold  their 
mines,  not  with  the  intention  of  giving  up  the 
profits,  but  merely  to  save  themselves  the  necessity 
of  labor. 

Having  nothing  to  do,  they  occasionally  fell  out  with 
newcomers  of  their  own  character,  and  used  their 
weapons  with  remarkable  skill.  Those  who  lost  their 
lives  in  these  encounters  were  regarded  as  unlucky — 
nothing  more.  The  Wells  Fargo  Company  were  in  the 
habit  of  establishing  express  offices  at  mining  camps 
which  were  productive,  but  when  I  tried  to  make 
arrangements  for  an  express  station  at  our  mine,  they 
said  that  they  "guessed  not."  They  said  they  wouldn't 
run  any  risks  at  Panamint,  not  with  that  bunch  of  high 
waymen  lying  around  just  waiting  to  swoop  down  and 
gobble  up  every  dollar  in  sight.  We  were  stumped. 
We  were  getting  out  plenty  of  ore,  but  didn't  dare  to 
run  it  into  bullion,  because  the  minute  we  did  the 
property  would  change  hands. 

Finally  I  hit  on  a  scheme.  I  had  some  moulds  made 
in  which  a  ball  of  solid  silver  could  be  run  weighing  750 
pounds.  Then  I  began  smelting  the  ore,  and  I  ran  out 
enormous  cannon-balls  of  the  precious  stuff  that  could 
have  bombarded  a  battleship.  When  the  road  agents 
saw  what  I  was  doing  their  eyes  stuck  out  of  their  heads, 
and  they  remonstrated  with  me.  They  acted  as  though 
I  had  cheated  them  out  of  property,  and  said  I  was  the 


264         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

meanest  man  that  ever  showed  up  in  that  Territory, 
they'd  swear. 

"Look  a-here,  don't  you  think  you  are  taking  a 
mighty  mean  advantage  of  us?"  grumbled  one  of  the 
bandits  one  day.  "Do  you  think  it's  right  to  play  that 
game  on  us — and  after  we  sold  you  the  mine,  too. 
Why,  we  can't  haul  away  one  of  those  boulders." 

"All  right,"  said  I,  "business  is  business.  If  you 
haven't  genius  enough  to  carry  this  stuff  off,  why,  you'll 
have  to  suffer,  that's  all.  You  can't  expect  me  to  be 
sorry  for  you,  can  you?" 

Well,  those  fellows  fairly  sweated  themselves  trying 
to  lug  one  of  these  silver  cannon-balls  off,  but  they 
couldn't  budge  it.  They  rode  off  on  their  horses  as  mad 
as  hornets,  and  by  and  by  they  rode  back,  and  "cussed 
me  out,"  and  said  I'd  live  to  feel  sorry  for  being  such 
an  ungenerous  skunk.  And  then  they'd  ride  away,  rip 
ping  out  the  most  terrible  oaths,  but  presently  they'd 
be  back  again.  It  seemed  as  though  they  couldn't  stay 
away  from  that  pile  of  fine  big  cannon-balls. 

Half  a  dozen  of  them  pried,  and  tugged,  and 
strained,  and  grunted,  trying  to  hoist  one  of  them 
on  a  mule,  but  that  made  the  mule  mad,  and  by  and  by 
he  took  a  hand  in  the  proceedings,  and  made  those 
outlaws  feel  pretty  sick,  and  after  that  they  gave  it  up, 
and  while  we  were  loading  five  of  the  silver  cannon-balls 
on  an  immense  freight  wagon  they  sat  around  disconso 
late  and  solemn,  like  pall-bearers  at  a  funeral. 

We  hauled  that  silver  out  of  there  like  ordinary 
freight,  without  a  guard.  There  wasn't  any  place  where 
the  outlaws  could  have  driven  the  wagon  except  to  the 
settlements,  or  I  suppose  they  would  have  stolen  the 
whole  thing.  They  could  have  rolled  some  of  the  silver 
down  into  a  canyon,  or  something  like  that,  but  if  they 
had  we  could  have  recovered  it,  and  silver  in  such  large 
packages  couldn't  have  been  circulated  freely  by  out 
laws,  anyhow. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         265 

After  leaving  the  Panamint,  until  1886,  I  was  actively 
engaged  in  the  practice  of  law  in  San  Francisco, 
Nevada,  Arizona,  and  other  mining  States  and  Terri 
tories.  For  a  short  time  I  had  a  partner,  Clarence 
Greathouse,  a  young  man  of  attainments  and  brilliant 
intellect.  He  spent  the  later  years  of  his  life  in  China 
and  Corea,in  various  official  positions.  William  F. 
Herrin  was  our  law  clerk. 

I  soon  dissolved  partnership  with  Mr.  Greathouse, 
and  a  new  law  firm  was  created,  consisting  of  my  former 
partner,  Judge  Peter  Van  Clief,  and  William  F.  Herrin, 
under  the  firm  name  of  Stewart,  Van  Clief  &  Herrin. 
Judge  Van  Clief  retired  from  the  firm,  taking  a  position 
as  one  of  the  court  commissioners. 

Mr.  Herrin  and  I  continued  in  business  together  until 
the  summer  of  1886.  He  was  remarkable  for  industry, 
power  of  discrimination,  and  devotion  to  his  profession. 
The  commanding  positions  which  he  has  since  occupied 
are  the  reward  of  real  merit.  During  the  time  I  had 
an  office  in  San  Francisco  with  him  I  was  largely 
engaged  in  mining  cases  east  of  the  Sierra  Nevada 
Mountains  at  I^odie,  Eureka,  and  other  places.  At 
Eureka  I  tried  the  celebrated  case  of  Albion  vs.  The 
Richmond,  which  was  contested  in  all  the  courts,  includ 
ing  the  Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States. 

The  Albion  was  finally  victorious,  but  the  mine 
recovered  was  not  valuable.  During  that  celebrated 
contest  I  was  assisted  by  the  law  firm  of  Baker  & 
Wines.  Thomas  Wren  was  the  principal  counsel  on  the 
opposite  side.  Mr.  Wren  was  a  formidable  adversary, 
and  fought  every  inch  of  the  ground  with  great  ability. 
The  victory  over  him  was  a  costly  one,  but  during  my 
stay  in  Eureka  on  that  occasion  I  formed  many  friend 
ships,  which  still  endure. 

The  litigation  in  Arizona  was  of  a  most  exciting 
character.  It  occurred  during  the  celebrated  "cow-boy 
reign." 


266         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Many  of  the  "gentlemen"  who  had  lived  in  security 
at  Panamint  in  defiance  of  the  law,  before  they  secured 
full  freedom  by  dividing  the  purchase  money  of  their 
claims  with  Wells  Fargo,  retired  to  Arizona  after 
mining  operations  ceased  at  Panamint.  They  were 
joined  in  the  grazing  lands  there  by  gentlemen  of 
similar  character  from  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and 
other  parts  of  the  West. 

The  UU.  P.  Toughs,"  as  they  were  commonly  called, 
who  had  followed  the  building  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  to  receive  from  the  employees  of  that  route 
their  surplus  coin,  also  immigrated  to  Arizona. 

The  discovery  of  very  rich  mines  at  Tombstone 
naturally  attracted  the  cow-boys  to  the  Territory. 

Nearly  all  of  the  mines  were  jumped  or  in  conflict 
with  rival  locations.  The  best-paying  mine  of  the  camp 
was  the  Contention.  It  was  in  litigation  with  all  its 
neighbors.  It  was  owned  by  a  San  Francisco  corpora 
tion,  and  Silas  White,  a  most  estimable  man  and  miner, 
was  the  superintendent.  I  was  employed  as  counsel. 

The  cow-boys  around  Tombstone  frequently  engaged 
in  bloody  conflicts.  They  were  divided  into  clans.  They 
"collected"  stock  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  old 
Mexico,  herded  their  booty  in  Arizona,  and  sold  it  in 
California  or  around  the  mining  camps.  These  cow 
boys,  of  course,  were  the  renegades.  There  were  lots 
of  other  cow-boys  who  did  a  legitimate  stock  business, 
but  they  were  all  fighters. 

A  pitched  battle  between  the  "Clantons"  and  the 
"Erps"  occurred  in  Tombstone  during  the  trial  of  the 
Contention  suit.  Six  of  the  "Clantons"  were  killed.  I 
witnessed  this  fight — from  a  safe  distance.  As  a  general 
rule  strangers  who  behaved  themselves  were  not  inter 
fered  with  by  the  cow-boys.  A  pompous  young  fop, 
whose  name  I  will  not  mention,  was  convicted  by  the 
cow-boys  of  "putting  on  airs."  They  dragged  him 
outside  the  town  to  one  of  their  camps  one  night 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         267 

and  compelled  him  to  dance  until  morning;  and  he  did 
dance,  too,  because  if  he  hadn't  kept  his  feet  off  the 
ground  pretty  lively  one  of  them  might  have  stopped  a 
bullet. 

I  was  in  a  little  town  called  Wilcox  when  the  first 
train  over  the  Southern  Pacific  went  through.  It  was  a 
great  occasion,  and  all  the  cow-boys  turned  out  for  miles 
around,  and  gaped  and  stared.  When  the  train  came 
to  a  stop  a  clerical-looking  man,  with  a  tall  silk  hat, 
called  a  "stove-pipe,"  came  out  on  the  platform  to 
observe  the  scenery. 

Six  cow-boys  got  the  drop  on  it  in  six  seconds,  and 
riddled  it,  and  that  passenger  skipped  back  without 
waiting  for  an  introduction,  and  crawled  under  a  seat. 

A  general  merchandise  dealer  came  down  there  and 
started  in  business.  He  erected  a  long  tent-house,  and 
filled  it  with  clothing,  whiskey  and  cigars,  and  put  out 
a  gaudy  sign.  His  name  was  Levy.  When  the  estab 
lishment  was  opened  the  cow-boys  sauntered  in,  and 
priced  things  and  tried  on  all  the  clothes,  and  about 
wrecked  the  place,  and  then  invited  him  to  treat. 

He  was  a  very  obstinate  man,  so  the  boys  made  him 
stand  at  the  back  of  the  tent  with  a  lighted  candle  in 
his  hand,  and  then  they  snuffed  it  out  with  their  pistols, 
and  it  was  good  shooting,  too,  because  Levy  trembled 
so  it  was  like  shooting  at  a  humming-bird.  After  this 
he  begged  off,  and  opened  up  his  liquor,  and  the  cow 
boys  gorged  themselves  and  carried  away  whatever  they 
wanted,  and  promised  to  come  back  and  give  him  their 
patronage ;  but  when  the  train  came  by  about  ten  o'clock 
the  next  day,  east-bound,  Levy  got  aboard  without 
delay,  and  gathered  up  what  he  could  of  his  stock,  and 
shipped  that  out  of  the  country,  too,  and  if  he  ever  came 
back  to  Arizona  again  I  never  heard  of  it. 

The  trial  of  the  Contention  suit  finally  terminated 
in  a  judgment  favorable  to  the  Contention.  It  was 
plain  to  me  that  the  Contention  mine,  although  a  very 


268         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

rich  one,  would  be  exhausted  before  the  title  could  be 
settled  by  litigation.  The  principal  conflicts  were  with 
the  companies  organized  in  Philadelphia,  San  Francisco, 
and  other  distant  cities.  I  studied  the  situation  care 
fully,  and  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  various 
corporations  would  waste  their  investments  in  litigation 
if  no  settlement  could  be  had.  I  advised  a  consolida 
tion. 

I  consulted  Mr.  White,  the  superintendent.  He  told 
me  my  plan  was  the  best  of  all,  but  that  not  one  of  the 
companies  would  entertain  such  a  proposition.  I  said, 
"All  right,  it's  settled."  I  drew  up  the  papers  for  all 
the  parties  to  execute,  and  mailed  them  to  their  home 
offices,  and  telegraphed  them  that  the  disputes  were 
settled  and  compromised,  and  that  the  papers  were  on 
the  way  to  them  to  execute.  They  wanted  to  know  who 
had  compromised,  and  who  had  settled  it.  I  told  them 
it  was  enough  for  them  to  know  that  it  was  settled. 

They  abused  me  roundly,  but  every  company  executed 
the  documents,  to  the  astonishment  of  Mr.  White. 
They  paid  me  $25,000  for  what  they  and  I  knew  I 
had  no  right  to  do.  The  settlement  of  this  litigation 
so  diminished  the  business  of  the  lawyers  that  nearly 
all  of  them  were  forced  to  emigrate.  They  said  many 
unkind  things  of  me. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

Trip  .to  Sonora,  Mexico,  in  search  of  mines — I  borrow  an  "Injun" 
dog — An  old  Spaniard's  story — Origin  of  the  Apaches  and  how 
they  got  their  courage — A  brave  Chinaman. 

While  I  was  in  Arizona  a  report  came  of  the  dis 
covery  of  wonderful  mines  on  a  knoll  in  an  old  camp 
about  250  miles  south  of  Tombstone,  in  Sonora, 
Mexico.  We  organized  a  party  to  visit  that  locality  on 
a  prospecting  tour. 

The  Apache  Indians  were  troublesome  at  that  time, 
and  it  was  necessary  to  go  well  armed  for  self-protec 
tion.  We  were  told  that  a  man  named  Clanton,  whose 
ranch  was  near  Charleston,  about  ten  miles  from  Tomb 
stone,  had  a  dog  that  was  keen  on  Indians  and  would 
invariably  give  the  alarm  at  night  if  they  appeared.  On 
our  way  south  we  passed  Charleston,  which  was  situated 
on  the  banks  of  a  small  stream,  and  as  we  crossed  the 
stream  I  met  a  station-keeper  by  the  name  of  Williams 
whom  I  had  known  at  Downieville,  California.  I  told 
him  I  wanted  to  get  the  Clanton  dog  to  accompany  us 
on  our  trip  into  Mexico.  He  pointed  to  a  few  huts  two 
or  three  hundred  yards  away,  and  said: 

"The  dog  is  up  there,  at  'Fort  Clanton/  and  if  a 
man  should  go  there  and  ask  for  that  dog  he  would 
never  get  away  again." 

I  told  him  I  would  get  the  dog.  The  whole  party 
expostulated  with  me  and  begged  me  not  to  go.  But 
Williams  praised  that  dog  up  so,  and  made  out  that  he 
was  such  a  wonder,  that  I  determined  to  have  him.  I 
couldn't  be  argued  out  of  it.  I  struck  out  for  the  camp 
and  found  twenty  or  thirty  cow-boys  loitering  around 
the  bar  in  a  little  shack  of  a  saloon.  They  were  exam 
ining  their  guns,  and  regarded  me  with  great  astonish 
ment  when  I  ^nt  in.  I  stepped  up  to  the  bar. 

r 


270         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

"Have  a  drink,"  I  said.  They  "cussed"  me, 
and  were  the  most  reluctant  set  of  men  I  had  ever  seen 
around  a  bar  in  Arizona.  I  "cussed"  them  back,  and 
asked  them  what  the  bar-keeper  had  ever  done  to  them 
that  they  wanted  to  tear  the  shingles  off  his  roof.  Then 
they  took  a  drink. 

"Where's  Clanton?"  I  said.  They  said  rather  gruffly 
that  he  was  in  his  cabin,  near  by.  So  then  I  got  gruff, 
too. 

"You  tell  Clanton  I  want  to  see  him,  and  tell  him  I 
want  his  dog,  too." 

"You  can't  have  that  dawg,"  growled  one  of  the 
cow-boys,  fooling  with  his  gun.  "That's  a  Injun  dawg, 
and  if  you  ask  old  man  Clanton  for  it  he'll  bore  you." 

I  cursed  the  cow-boy,  and  finally  went  out  and  brought 
in  Clanton.  Then  I  set  up  another  drink,  and  when 
Clanton  was  in  a  good  humor  I  asked  him  for  the  dog. 

"Who  in  the  name  of  God  are  you?"  he  roared. 

"My  name's  Stewart,"  said  I. 

"My  God!  you  ain't  old  Bill  Stewart,  are  you?" 

"I'm  the  man." 

"If  that's  so,  take  the  dog,  and  go  to  hell  with  him!" 
said  Clanton. 

I  walked  out  of  there  with  the  dog  at  the  end  of  a 
rope,  and  the  cow-boys  thought  I  was  the  Devil. 

We  had  in  our  party  several  professors  and  other 
right  good  men,  but  they  would  not  cook.  Hank  Smith, 
now  an  old  man  in  Goldfield,  was  one  of  the  party, 
and  he  and  I  had  to  do  all  the  cooking.  This  we  did 
not  like,  but  we  pursued  our  journey  to  the  camp  in 
Mexico  where  the  great  mines  were  supposed  to  be 
located,  and  after  prospecting  for  several  days  we  came 
to  the  conclusion  that  we  did  not  want  any  mines  in 
that  locality. 

While  there,  at  the  solicitation  of  the  natives,  I  visited 
a  Spaniard  who  was  said  to  be  more  than  one  hundred 
years  old.  He  lived  in  two  rooms  in  the  ruins  of  what 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         271 

had  been  an  immense  castle.  The  natives  treated  him 
with  reverence  and  provided  for  him  with  care.  He  was 
a  tall,  majestic-looking  man  of  commanding  appearance, 
even  in  his  extreme  old  age,  and  could  speak  a  little 
English,  although  part  of  our  conversation  was  through 
an  interpreter.  He  knew  the  Apaches  were  raiding  his 
country  at  the  time.  I  inquired  of  him  the  history  of 
the  tribe.  He  told  me  they  were  not  a  tribe,  but  were 
composed  of  many  tribes. 

He  said  the  Catholic  priests  who  came  from  Canada 
followed  up  the  lakes  and  crossed  over  to  Santa  Fe,  in 
New  Mexico,  and  from  there  to  Arizona  and  Sonora; 
that  for  self-protection  the  priests  selected  a  few  young 
men  from  each  tribe  of  Indians  as  they  passed  through 
the  country,  to  act  as  a  body-guard.  These  young  men, 
he  said,  were  granted  every  privilege,  and  they  took 
wives  from  different  tribes  as  they  went  along.  After 
settling  in  Mexico  in  disobedience  to  the  orders  of  the 
priests,  they  went  far  into  the  interior  of  the  country, 
sometimes  as  far  as  the  City  of  Mexico,  robbed  and 
plundered,  and  returned. 

They  captured  such  pretty  girls  as  they  desired 
wherever  they  found  them,  and  consequently  the 
Apaches  were  a  mixed  race — and  a  most  handsome, 
daring  race.  They  seldom  fought  in  the  open,  said  the 
old  man,  but  hid  in  ambush  to  rob  and  plunder.  About 
fifty  or  sixty  years  previous,  he  said,  they  turned  against 
the  priests  in  Sonora  and  Arizona  and  drove  them  out 
of  the  country.  He  had  been  friendly  with  them  while 
residing  in  his  castle  and  required  his  people  to  treat 
them  kindly,  consequently  they  allowed  him  to  remain, 
and  they  had  never  disturbed  him.  He  said  his  castle 
or  hacienda  was  ruined  by  the  Mexican  revolutions. 

After  this  interview  we  started  back  to  Tombstone, 
and  when  we  had  traveled  about  a  day  and  a  half 
reached  a  Mexican  village  where  we  halted  for  lunch. 
A  large  mulatto  drove  the  four-horse  wagon  in  which 


272         Reminiscences  of  William   M.  Stewart 

we  had  been  in  the  habit  of  carrying  provisions.  We 
drove  around  through  the  camp  and  bought  about  four 
bushels  of  eggs.  We  had  nothing  left  but  corn  meal, 
bacon  and  coffee.  Hank  Smith  and  I  got  into  the  wagon 
and  induced  the  driver  to  go  on,  leaving  the  rest  of  the 
party  to  take  care  of  themselves,  intending  to  give  those 
who  had  been  riding  in  the  wagon  with  us  a  little  exer 
cise  because  they  had  treated  us  so  shabbily  about 
cooking.  We  drove  to  a  point  about  twenty  miles 
distant,  where  there  was  plenty  of  water  and  dry  wood. 

We  built  a  splendid  fire,  heated  water,  and  made  corn- 
cakes  of  about  half  eggs  and  half  meal,  and  baked  them 
in  our  frying  pans.  When  we  saw  the  van-guard  of  our 
companions  approaching  about  a  mile  away,  we  fried 
bacon  and  eggs  and  boiled  coffee,  and  by  the  time  the 
party  arrived,  and  before  they  had  time  to  give  us  a 
good  tongue-lashing — if  nothing  more — they  observed 
the  good  things,  and,  sore  footed  as  they  were,  they  ate 
as  mortal  man  never  ate  before.  We  had  only  about 
seventy-five  miles  more  to  travel  before  we  reached 
American  soil.  We  boiled  the  remainder  of  our  eggs 
hard,  loaded  them  into  the  wagons  with  the  cornbread, 
and  started  on.  This  was  all  we  had  to  eat  until  we 
reached  the  end  of  our  journey. 

In  about  a  day  and  a  half  we  came  to  the  camp  of  a 
Chinaman  who  kept  a  restaurant  near  the  border.  Sev 
eral  of  his  predecessors  at  this  place  had  attempted  to 
keep  a  restaurant,  but  the  cow-boys  had  a  habit  of  eat 
ing  without  paying,  and  each  proprietor  had  been  com 
pelled  to  give  it  up  as  a  bad  job. 

John  had  two  or  three  hundred  dollars  that  he  had 
earned  by  cooking  at  Tombstone.  He  invested  it  in 
liquor  and  provisions  and  rented  the  station.  One  day 
a  party  of  six  outlaws  came  along  and  demanded  dinner. 
John  cooked  the  dinner  and  waited  on  the  table.  When 
they  had  finished  eating,  they  demanded  more  whiskey 
and  cigars. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         273 

"You  payee  me  flor  what  you  glot  I  givee  you  more," 
said  John. 

They  said  they  paid  for  nothing,  that  they  had  a 
right  to  everything  he  had.  John  went  out  in  the  cook- 
room  and  got  two  pistols,  and  without  any  argument  he 
commenced  shooting  at  the  outlaws  as  fast  as  he  could, 
and  killed  five,  leaving  only  one,  and  that  one  skipped 
out.  After  that  the  Chinaman  was  allowed  to  conduct 
his  establishment  in  peace,  and  those  who  ate  paid  for 
what  they  got.  John  cooked  us  a  good  supper,  for 
which  we  paid  promptly.  We  camped  there  that  night, 
and  the  next  day  we  arrived  at  Tombstone  a  wiser, 
if  not  a  better,  party  of  prospectors. 


18 


CHAPTER    XXX 

A  celebrated  breach  of  promise  suit — The  killing  of  Judge  Terry — 
Again  a  candidate  for  the  Senate — Reply  .to  attacks  by  Senator 
Fair  on  my  character — Reflected  to  the  Senate  in  1887 — Career 
in  that  body — A  total  service  of  twenty-nine  years. 

During  the  time  I  was  in  partnership  with  Mr.  Her- 
rin  in  San  Francisco  the  celebrated  Sharon  case  attracted 
universal  attention. 

Sarah  Althea  Hill,  a  bright  and  attractive  young 
woman  from  Missouri,  asserted  that  she  had  a  written 
contract  of  marriage  with  Mr.  Sharon,  who  was  then 
a  man  over  sixty  years  of  age.  He  claimed  to  be  a 
resident  of  Nevada,  which  gave  the  Circuit  Court  of  the 
United  States  jurisdiction,  Miss  Hill  being  a  resident  of 
California.  Sharon  brought  suit  to  set  aside  the  alleged 
contract.  Immediately  thereafter,  Miss  Hill  brought 
suit  for  divorce  in  the  State  Court,  demanding  her  rights 
as  a  wife  and  her  share  of  the  common  property;  as 
by  the  law  of  California  the  property  acquired  during 
the  marriage  belonged  to  the  husband  and  wife  in  equal 
parts. 

A  famous  lawyer  in  San  Francisco,  William  L.  H. 
Barnes,  was  applied  to  by  Miss  Hill  to  act  as  her 
attorney,  as  afterward  came  out  in  the  evidence. 
General  Barnes,  as  he  was  called, — I  believe  he  had 
been  in  the  militia, — telephoned  to  Mr.  Sharon  pro 
posing  to  defend  him  against  Miss  Hill. 

Mr.  Sharon  employed  the  General,  who  managed  to 
make  a  very  notorious  affair  out  of  the  controversy.  By 
the  statutes  of  California  either  party  could  subpoena 
the  other  after  summons  was  served  and  take  his  deposi 
tion.  This  was  sometimes  resorted  to  to  commit  the 
opposite  party  to  a  certain  line  of  prosecution  or  defense. 
The  statutes  also  made  it  optional  with  either  party  to 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         275 

have  the  divorce  proceedings  kept  secret  and  tried  by 
the  court. 

General  Barnes  was  anxious  that  the  proceedings 
should  be  public,  and  Miss  Hill  and  her  counsel  were 
equally  desirous  that  the  trial  of  a  poor  girl  against  a 
millionaire  should  be  placed  before  the  people. 

Miss  Hill  employed  George  W.  Tyler  and  David  S. 
Terry  as  her  counsel.  Both  of  these  gentlemen  were 
somewhat  aggressive  and  of  undoubted  courage.  Barnes 
blustered  and  spent  a  great  amount  of  money  in  all 
sorts  of  proceedings,  but  when  Terry  and  Tyler  remon 
strated  he  lowered  his  flag  in  the  dust  in  a  manner  not 
in  harmony  with  his  ferocious  bearing  in  the  start. 

The  proceedings  were  conducted  by  Barnes  from  bad 
to  worse,  he  submitting  to  constant  rebuffs  without  an 
adequate  show  of  courage.  The  sympathy  of  the  people 
was  with  Miss  Hill.  Judge  Sullivan,  at  the  conclusion 
of  the  trial,  gave  judgment  in  favor  of  the  plaintiff,  Miss 
Hill,  and  against  the  defendant,  Sharon,  for  all  she 
demanded  in  her  complaint. 

The  case  which  Mr.  Sharon  had  brought  in  the 
United  States  Court  was  still  pending,  and  as  it  was 
commenced  first  that  court  had  a  prior  jurisdiction,  and 
the  whole  matter  was  still  open  for  trial  before  Circuit 
Judge  Sawyer. 

Mr.  Sharon  called  on  me,  asking  me  what  could  be 
done.  I  told  him  the  case  could  be  tried  in  the  Circuit 
Court  as  if  nothing  had  been  done  in  the  State  Court, 
and  that  if  he  could  win  it  in  the  Circuit  Court  the  judg 
ment  of  the  State  Court  was  of  no  value. 

He  employed  me  to  take  charge  of  the  case  in  the 
Circuit  Court,  and  as  it  was  a  case  of  equity  to  set  aside 
the  alleged  contract,  testimony  was  taken  before  a  court 
commissioner.  Sometimes  I  conducted  the  proceedings 
on  one  side  and  Judge  Terry  on  the  other.  Miss  Hill 
was  always  present.  Judge  Evans,  who  had  assisted 
Mr.  Barnes,  was  with  me  part  of  the  time. 


276         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Miss  Hill  was  quite  violent  at  times  during  the  taking 
of  the  deposition,  and  sometimes  drew,  her  yjsto}  on 
me ;  but  Judge  Terry  quieted  her  down  and  the  proceed 
ings  were  conducted  in  a  very  thorough  manner.  I 
produced  much  evidence  that  had  not  been  produced  in 
the  State  Court,  and  made  what  seemed  to  me  a  demon 
stration  against  the  genuineness  of  the  contract. 

I  did  not  know  at  the  time  I  discussed  the  character 
of  Miss  Hill  before  the  court  that  her  counsel,  Judge 
Terry,  contemplated  marrying  the  woman;  but  some 
two  or  three  weeks  after  this  argument,  the  case  having 
been  decided  against  Miss  Hill,  and  in  favor  of  Mr. 
Sharon, — and  Judge  Terry  and  Miss  Hill  having  been 
married  in  the  mean  time, — I  accidentally  met  Judge 
Terry.  We  bowed  to  each  other,  but  neither  spoke,  no 
explanation  being  possible. 

In  subsequent  proceedings  to  carry  the  judgment  of 
the  Circuit  Court  into  execution,  Judge  Field,  of  the 
California  Supreme  Court,  of  which  Judge  Terry  had 
once  been  a  member,  presided.  An  unpleasant  scene 
occurred  in  the  court,  ending  in  Judge  Terry  and  his 
wife  being  committed  by  Judge  Field  for  contempt 
*  of  court,  and  they  were  confined  in  the  Oakland  jail  for 
several  months.  Terry  was  very  bitter. 

The  following  year,  Judge  Field,  on  his  way  over  the 
State  on  judicial  business,  was  eating  breakfast  one 
morning  at  a  little  place  called  Lathrop,  one  hundred 
miles  from  San  Francisco.  David  Nagle,  a  deputy 
marshal,  was  seated  at  the  same  table.  Judge  Terry 
entered  the  room,  saw  Field,  walked  up  to  him  and 
slapped  his  face,  and  Nagle  shot  him  dead.  Nagle 
went  free  on  the  ground  that  he  had  a  right  to  protect 
a  Justice  who  had  been  assaulted  by  an  angry  man.  % 

I  closed  my  office  in  San  Francisco,  and  further  pro 
ceedings  in.  the  matter  were  turned  over  to  Mr.  Herrin, 
who  managed  the  case  with  skill  and  ability;  and 
I  confined  my  operations  to  the  State  of  Nevada. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         277 

Although  our  business  was  prosperous,  I  decided  to 
dissolve  partnership  and  become  a  candidate  for  reelec 
tion  to  the  Senate  in  the  summer  of  1886. 

While  I  was  in  business  with  Mr.  Herrin  we  had  a 
young  clerk,  Isaac  Frohman,  in  our  employ.  We  gave 
him  the  option  to  remain  with  Mr.  Herrin,  or  accom 
pany  me  to  Nevada  and  Washington  in  the  event  I 
should  be  elected  to  the  Senate.  He  decided  to  go  with 
me.  He  remained  with  me  until  I  had  served  two  years 
in  the  Senate,  when  his  fidelity  to  duty,  his  industry,  and 
ability  satisfied  me  that  I  ought  not  to  retain  him  in 
the  position  of  secretary.  I  made  arrangements  for  him 
to  enter  a  law  college  in  Washington,  and  at  the  end  of 
two  years  he  was  awarded  by  the  faculty  the  first  prize 
for  his  essay  on  law. 

He  graduated  with  high  honors  and  went  to  San 
Francisco,  where  he  engaged  in  the  practice  of  his  pro 
fession,  and  has  achieved  the  success  he  richly  deserved. 
He  was  one  of  the  most  faithful  and  efficient  assistants 
I  ever  had,  and  our  friendship  has  never  been  marred 
by  the  slightest  misunderstanding. 

My  principal  reason  for  deciding  to  become  a  candi 
date  for  the  Senate  was  the  act  of  John  Sherman 
smuggling  the  silver  dollar  out  of  the  list  of  coins  in  the 
Mint  Act  of  '73,  and  I  felt  it  my  duty  to  return  to  the 
Senate  and  do  what  I  could  to  rectify  the  crime  which 
was  clandestinely  committed  without  my  knowledge,  or 
the  knowledge  of  the  American  people,  in  the  passage 
of  that  infamous  mint  law. 

After  I  had  announced  myself  as  a  candidate,  James 
G.  Fair  undertook  to  stab  me  in  the  dark  by  furnishing 
the  money  to  circulate  villainous  attacks  upon  my  private 
character,  for  which  there  was  no  foundation  whatever. 
I  told  the  friends  of  Mr.  Fair  to  induce  him  to  leave 
his  home  in  San  Francisco  and  meet  me  on  the  stump  in 
Nevada  for  the  purpose  of  discussing  both  our  private 
and  political  characters.  He  would  not  do  so,  and 


278         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

several  would-be  candidates  for  the  Senate  visited  him 
in  San  Francisco.  What  arguments  he  used  with  them, 
whether  moral  or  financial,  I  do  not  know,  but  they  all, 
with  one  accord,  made  war  on  me.  They  alleged  that 
I,  being  in  the  Senate  at  the  time  silver  was  demonetized, 
was  responsible  for  that  outrage. 

I  denounced  that  charge,  and  promised  the  people 
that  if  elected  to  the  Senate  I  would  prove  that  the 
crime  of  demonetizing  silver  was  unknown  in  the  Senate, 
and  that  it  was  the  work  of  a  secret  conspiracy;  and  that 
I  would  prove  the  charge  to  the  satisfaction  of  John 
Sherman  himself.  The  records  will  show  how  faithfully 
I  kept  that  promise. 

After  a  most  vigorous  campaign  in  the  summer  and 
fall  of  1886,  the  Legislature  met  in  January,  1887,  and 
elected  me  to  the  Senate  as  the  successor  of  James  G. 
Fair.  I  was  elected  my  own  successor  the  two  following 
terms,  which  I  served,  making  a  continuous  service  of 
eighteen  years,  and  a  total  service  of  twenty-nine  years. 

So  far  as  Nevada  is  concerned,  I  derive  much  satisfac 
tion  in  the  consciousness  that  I  have  served  my  State 
on  all  occasions  to  the  best  of  my  ability;  that  I  have 
looked  after  the  interests  of  all  the  people  without 
regard  to  personal  or  political  differences;  that  I  have 
secured  much  legislation  beneficial  to  the  State;  that  I 
have  prevented  the  sale  of  mines  at  auction  and  secured 
the  confirmation  of  miners'  rights  according  to  their 
rules  and  regulations;  that  in  connection  with  my  col 
league,  Senator  Nye,  I  secured  the  establishment  of  the 
Mint  at  Carson. 

^Later  on  I  prevented  the  conversion  of  the  Mint  into 
a  public  building  and  secured  mandatory  legislation  with 
an  additional  appropriation  for  the  construction  of  the 
present  Government  Building  at  the  capital.  I  secured 
the  passage  of  the  law  for  the  survey  of  the  public  lands, 
none  of  which  had  been  surveyed,  or  sold,  or  brought 
into  the  market,  at  the  time  the  State  was  admitted. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         279 

It  would  extend  this  narrative  to  unreasonable  length 
to  recite  the  particulars  of  what  I  did  for  the  benefit 
of  my  State  during  my  service  in  Congress,  but  I  will 
mention  a  few  other  matters  which  I  thought  at  the 
time,  and  still  think,  were  of  vital  importance  to  the 
State. 

I  secured  the  use  of  the  ninety-thousand  acre  grant 
to  Nevada  when  she  became_a_StaJ^I£Qi.^the  esta~Wish~- 
ment  of  an  AgriculturaTT!oIIege.  A  building  wasrfirst 
erected  at  Elko,  but  there  was  not  sufficient  money  to 
establish  a  college  or  school,  and  the  people  of  Reno 
made  a  proposition  to  the  State,  which  was  accepted, 
for  the  removal  of  the  institution  to  that  city. 

By  the  liberal  contributions  of  the  people  of  the 
county  of  Washoe,  enough  was  added  to  the  State  and 
National  funds  to  erect  the  first  college  building  where 
it  still  stands.  The  income  from  the  land  grant  was 
then  about  $7,000  a  year,  which  was  spent  in  the  salary 
of  the  president  and  a  few  other  matters.  Little  or  no 
teaching  was  done,  but  the  saloons  and  other  places  of 
amusement  about  Reno  did  not  suffer  for  want  of  their 
share  of  the  small  appropriation. 

After  I  was  elected  in  the  winter  of  1887  I  labored 
with  the  Legislature  for  over  two  months  to  rescue  the 
institution  from  bad  government  and  place  it  on  the 
footing  of  possible  success. 

Senator  Morrill  of  Vermont  devised  a  scheme  during 
my  service  to  divert  a  large  share  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
public  lands  to  the  establishment  of  agricultural  colleges 
throughout  the  several  States,  a  former  scheme  of  issu 
ing  land  transcripts  to  the  States  having  practically 
failed  on  account  of  the  Civil  War.  It  was  contended 
that  his  plan  interfered  with  the  ultimate  sale  of  the 
public  lands,  and  consequently  it  was  defeated  session 
after  session. 

When  Congress  met,  Hatch  of  Missouri,  a  great 
friend  of  education,  and  one  of  the  best  men  in  Con- 


280        Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

gress,  had  a  comprehensive  system  to  aid  agricultural 
colleges  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  the  public 
lands.  It  was  antagonized  by  the  Morrill  Bill. 

I  studied  the  two  bills  and  called  on  Senator  Morrill 
and  pointed  out  to  him  that  what  he  desired,  and  what 
the  member  from  Missouri  desired,  were  practically  the 
same,  and  that  the  only  objections  to  his  plan,  for 
which  he  had  labored  so  long,  were  some  provisions  in 
his  bill  which  the  opposition  contended  would  embarrass 
if  not  interfere  with  the  disposition  of  the  public  lands. 

He  said  he  did  not  intend  any  such  thing,  and  that 
he  was  perfectly  willing  to  support  a  bill  which  was 
free  from  the  objections  urged  against  his.  I  suggested 
an  amendment  which  obviated  the  difficulty  and  to  which 
all  agreed.  This  opened  the  way  for  the  passage  of  a 
law  which  gave  the  University  of  Nevada  fifteen  thou 
sand  dollars  the  first  year,  increasing  at  the  rate  of  a 
thousand  dollars  each  year  for  ten  years  until  it  reached 
the  sum  of  twenty-five  thousand  dollars  a  year,  which 
the  University  still  enjoys. 

I  then,  with  others,  labored  for  the  passage  of  a  law 
creating  an  experiment  station  in  each  agricultural 
college,  under  which  the  University  receives  fifteen 
thousand  dollars  a  year,  making  the  round  sum  of 
forty  thousand  dollars  a  year  in  addition  to  the  proceeds 
of  the  original  9O,ooo-acre  grant. 

The  State  has  added  largely  to  these  Government 
donations,  and  the  institution  has  been  in  the  past  most 
beneficial  to  the  State,  and  of  a  right  ought  to  be  a 
continuous  blessing.  Whether  or  not  it  shall  be  depends 
upon  its  management,  which,  I  am  sorry  to  say,  is  now 
much  criticised.  Some  incidents  occurred  during  my 
canvass  of  the  State  in  the  fall  of  1886  which  illustrate 
the  condition  of  the  country  schools  of  Nevada  before 
the  establishment  of  the  State  University. 

Although  Nevada  had  an  ample  school  fund,  result 
ing  from  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  of  two  million  acres 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         281 

of  agricultural  land,  received  in  lieu  of  the  i6th  and 
36th  sections  granted  to  the  several  States,  it  was  diffi 
cult  to  obtain  teachers.  There  was  no  institution  in 
the  State  where  persons  desiring  to  become  teachers 
could  be  qualified  for  that  purpose,  and  consequently 
nearly  all  the  teachers  were  imported  from  California, 
although  the  young  men  and  women  in  Nevada  were 
anxious  to  be  elected  teachers  in  the  public  schools. 

I  had  a  public  political  meeting  at  Candeleria, 
Esmeralda  County,  Nevada.  The  room  in  which  the 
speaking  took  place  was  prepared  for  a  dance  after 
the  political  exercises  were  over,  and  the  young  people 
insisted  that  I  should  take  part  in  their  social  entertain 
ment. 

The  leader  of  the  ladies  was  a  beautiful  girl,  nineteen 
or  twenty  years  old,  whose  sprightly  and  vivacious 
manner  made  her  a  natural  favorite  among  men  and 
women.  In  the  corner  stood  a  modest-looking,  prepos 
sessing  young  woman,  and  I  observed  that  she  turned 
her  head  to  wipe  away  the  tears  from  her  eyes.  I 
inquired  the  cause  of  one  of  the  ladies.  She  said  the 
young  lady  who  was  leading  the  festivities,  and  telling 
everybody  what  to  do,  was  a  candidate  for  teacher,  but 
that  the  trustees  refused  to  appoint  her  and  employed 
the  young  lady  in  the  corner,  who  was  left  out  of  the 
entertainment. 

I  immediately  approached  the  Candeleria  girl  and 
told  her  I  wanted  an  opportunity  to  speak  to  her.  She 
readily  granted  my  request,  and  I  informed  her  what  I 
had  been  told  by  my  lady  friend,  and  I  said  to  her: 

"The  young  lady  standing  there  is  not  responsible 
for  your  own  defeat.  I  understand  that  she  was  edu 
cated  for  a  teacher  and  has  no  other  means  of  support, 
and  would  naturally  come  to  Nevada  or  go  most 
anywhere  else  to  fill  a  position  of  that  kind.  You  are 
too  brave  a  girl,  with  too  good  a  heart,  to  punish  her 
under  the  circumstances." 


282         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

"How  can  I  help  it?"  she  replied. 

"Go  up  and  put  your  arm  around  her,  introduce  her 
to  the  people  here,  and  make  her  have  a  good  time," 
I  said.  "You  will  feel  better  for  it,  and  you  know  you 
ought  to  do  it." 

"I  will  do  it."  And  she  did  it  in  the  most  enthusiastic 
and  graceful  manner,  and  then  we  all  had  a  good  time 
the  remainder  of  the  evening. 

When  I  entered  the  Senate  there  was  an  Indian  reser 
vation  at  Pyramid  Lake  which  was  then  receiving,  and 
has  since  received,  $13,000  or  $14,000  per  year,  which 
I  then  regarded,  and  still  regard,  as  a  calamity  to  the 
Indians. 

Although  I  have  had  much  to  do  with  the  Indian 
Service  in  Congress,  serving  as  I  did  as  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  I  still  think,  as  I  then 
thought,  that  the  reservation  system  is  a  mistake. 
Confining  Indians  to  a  reservation  and  supplying  them 
with  the  necessities  of  life  simply  demoralizes  them;  but 
I  was  anxious  to  educate  the  young  Indians  and  prepare 
them  for  the  duties  of  citizenship.  I  took  measures  to 
establish  an  Indian  school  at  Carson,  Nevada,  and  have 
done  all  in  my  power  to  secure  the  education  of  the 
Indians  of  Nevada  in  such  matters  as  will  make  them 
self-sustaining. 

The  beneficial  effects  of  compelling  the  Indians  to 
take  care  of  themselves  are  strongly  illustrated  by  the 
fact  that  the  Indians  from  the  reservation  are  by  no 
means  equal  to  the  Indians  who  have  taken  care  of 
themselves  by  herding  stock,  cutting  wood,  or  doing 
washing.  Often  when  visiting  the  institutions  I  am 
able  to  select  Indians  not  raised  on  the  reservation  from 
those  who  were  by  the  superiority  of  the  former  in  every 
respect. 

I  am  glad  to  say  that  the  Indian  Bureau  has  reached 
the  conclusion  which  I  entertained  when  I  first  entered 
political  life — that  the  Indians  cannot  be  civilized  on 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         283 

reservations,  but  that  they  must  be  individualized  and 
allowed  to  do  for  themselves,  or  they  will  perish  by 
idleness,  disease,  and  stagnation. 


CHAPTER    XXXI 

Return  to  the  Senate — The  demonetization  of  silver — Exposure  of 
John  Sherman — How  he  deceived  Congress — I  offer  a  bill  to 
restore  silver. 

When  I  returned  to  the  Senate  March  4,  1887,  the 
silver  question  was  agitating  the  country.  The  silver 
question  grew  out  of  ignorance  of  the  money  question 
by  the  many;  and  greed  and  dishonesty  of  the  few. 
Aristotle  twenty-two  hundred  years  ago  told  the  world 
what  money  was.  He  said  it  was  the  creation  of  law, 
and  that  whatever  the  law  declared  to  be  money  was 
the  best  money,  upon  whatever  material  the  edict  of  law 
was  stamped.  The  vicious  few  who  desired  to  monopo 
lize  the  material  out  of  which  money  was  made  declared 
that  material,  not  law,  was  money.  The  material  which 
passed  as  money  often  changed  because  it  was  too  bulky 
for  use  or  two  small  in  quantity. 

Nearly  every  kind  of  property  has  been  used  as 
money,  such  as  shells,  cattle,  slaves,  and  the  like. 
Nearly  all  the  metals  have  been  used  as  money — iron, 
lead,  copper,  etc.  Silver  was  used  by  the  ancients  long 
before  gold,  but  for  the  last  two  thousand  years  both 
gold  and  silver  have  been  used  as  money.  The  quantity 
of  these  metals  has  determined  the  rise  and  fall  of 
nations. 

When  the  mines  have  been  productive  the  world 
has  progressed  in  the  arts  of  civilization.  When  the 
mines  have  failed,  want  and  decay  have  followed  with 
as  much  regularity  as  night  follows  day.  The  most 
conspicuous  civilization  of  ancient  times  existed  when 
Rome  was  at  the  zenith  of  her  power.  At  that  time  she 
used  both  gold  and  silver  as  money.  The  coins  of  the 
Empire,  according  to  the  best  evidence  that  now 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         285 

remains,  amounted  to  about  eighteen  hundred  millions 
of  our  money.  The  mines  of  Spain,  Italy,  and  Greece 
were  closed,  and  for  about  fourteen  hundred  years  there 
was  practically  no  mining.  Contraction  of  the  money 
volume  made  money  dearer,  because  it  was  scarcer,  and 
nobles  and  serfs  occupied  Europe  until  some  time  after 
the  discovery  of  the  New  World. 

More  than  four  hundred  years  ago  gold  and  silver 
were  discovered  in  Mexico  and  South  America;  then 
commenced  the  Reformation.  Within  thirty  years  after 
that  great  discovery,  a  Luther  appeared.  More  money 
had  enabled  him  to  visit  Rome  and  expose  the  wicked- 
ness,  as  he  declared,  of  the  Church  government.  More 
money  from  the  New  World  breathed  new  life,  as  it 
were,  into  the  Old  for  centuries. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  nineteenth  century  a 
change  took  place.  The  Spanish-American  wars  greatly 
diminished  the  supply  of  gold  and  silver  from  Mexico 
and  South  America,  and  produced  universal  distress  in 
Europe  and  America. 

War  and  famine  marked  the  history  of  Europe  from 
1800  to  1850.  The  United  States  was  partially  exempt 
from  the  contraction  which  followed  the  failure  of  the 
supply  of  gold  and  silver,  by  liberal  land  laws  which 
induced  European  immigrants  to  come  and  occupy  the 
great  Mississippi  Valley,  and  bring  with  them  their 
families  and  what  little  money  they  might  possess.  This 
influx  of  population  and  supply  of  money  relieved  the 
United  States  from  the  terrible  effect  of  a  money  famine 
which  produced  universal  distress  in  Europe. 

The  discovery  of  gold  in  California  in  1848,  and  a 
like  discovery  in  Australia  two  years  later,  created  great 
excitement  throughout  the  world.  The  people  of  the 
United  States,  more  than  two  hundred  thousand  strong, 
rushed  to  the  new  El  Dorado  of  California;  and 
almost  a  like  number  from  Great  Britain  flocked  to 
the  mines  of  Australia.  The  influx  of  gold  was  quick 


286         Reminiscences  of  William  ML  Stewart 

and  enormous.  The  people  generally  rejoiced,  because 
it  revived  business  and  made  good  times.  But  in  the 
midst  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  masses  De  Quincy  pro 
claimed  to  the  world  in  fervid  eloquence  that  the  influx 
of  gold  was  destroying  civilization,  demoralizing  the 
world,  and  would  result  in  ultimate  ruin. 

Chevalier,  one  of  the  most  prominent  financiers  of 
Europe,  published  a  book  in  which  he  contended  gold 
must  be  demonetized;  that  the  continuous  use  of  gold  as 
money  would  work  universal  repudiation;  that  it  was 
dishonest  and  wicked  to  pay  debts  in  gold  under  such 
a  flood  as  was  coming  from  California  and  Australia. 
His  voice  was  potent.  Germany  and  Holland  closed 
their  mints  to  gold  and  adopted  the  silver  standard. 
Maclaren  of  England,  representing  the  bondholders  of 
the  British  Empire,  made  the  same  argument  in  the 
early  fifties  against  the  use  of  gold,  which  has  since 
been  used  by  gold  standard  contractionists  far  more 
than  thirty  years  against  the  use  of  silver.  In  rTis  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  the  bondholders  he  said: 

Our  neighbors  on  the  Continent  received  the  announcement  of 
these  remarkable  discoveries  in  a  different  spirit ;  from  the  first 
they  have  considered  them  of  the  greatest  importance  and  have 
expressed  great  solicitude  for  the  maintenance  of  the  standard 
value. 

Immediately  that  the  fact  of  a  great  increase  in  the 
production  of  gold  was  established,  the  government  of 
Holland,  ua  nation  justly  renowned,"  says  N.  Chevalier, 
ufor  its  foresight  and  probity,  discarded  gold  from  its 
currency."  "They  may,"  says  the  same  author,  "have 
been  rather  hasty  in  passing  this  law,  but  in  a  matter 
of  this  nature  it  is  better  to  be  in  advance  of  events  than 
to  let  them  pass  us." 

France  appointed  a  monetary  commission  which  con 
sidered  the  question  of  demonetizing  gold  for  several 
years,  and  finally  reported  that  it  was  necessary  to 
demonetize  one  or  the  other  of  the  precious  metals ;  that 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         287 

the  supply  was  violating  contracts  by  depreciating  money 
with  which  debts  were  paid. 

While  the  agitation  for  the  demonetization  of  gold 
was  continuing,  the  Comstock  was  discovered.  About 
that  time,  Louis  Napoleon,  or  his  advisers,  conceived  the 
idea  of  unifying  the  currency  weights  and  measures 
throughout  the  civilized  world.  He  accordingly  called 
a  conference  of  the  nations  to  meet  in  Paris  to  consider 
the  subject. 

The  United  States  appointed  Mr.  Ruggles  of  New 
York  as  a  delegate  to  that  conference.  Mr.  Ruggles, 
before  his  departure  for  Paris,  gave  a  dinner  to  discuss 
the  general  subject.  I  was  invited  to  that  dinner^  and 
met  professors  and  men  from  different  sections  of  the 
United  States.  The  advantages  of  uniform  weights  and 
measures  and  a  uniform  currency  were  favorably  dis 
cussed.  Mr.  Ruggles  soon  after  departed  for  France, 

John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Finance,  left  the  United  States  about  the  same  time 
for  England.  He  spent  several  weeks  in  London  in 
consultation  with  the  bondholding  class  connected  with 
the  Bank  of  England,  and  was  so  completely  in  accord 
with  that  fraternity  that  they  had  his  portrait  painted 
and  placed  in  the  great  bank,  where  I  suppose  it  still 
remains. 

He  went  to  Paris,  where  he  spent  several  weeks,  and 
wrote  a  letter  to  the  Emperor  in  favor  of  his  plan  of 
unifying  the  currency — provided  the  single  gold  stand 
ard  was  adopted. 

The  conference  finally  passed  a  resolution  recom 
mending  the  single  gold  standard  for  all  nations.  It 
may  be  asked  how  the  bondholders  of  Paris  and  London 
were  induced  to  change  their  minds  and  favor  gold 
instead  of  silver.  The  answer  is  easy. 

The  Comstock  lode  had  been  discovered  some  years 
before,  butthe  great  bonanza  was  just  uncovered,  and 

Mr.  Lindeman,   Director  of  the  United  States  Mint, 
A 


288         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

reported  in  London  that  there  were  fifteen  hundred 
millions  of  silver  in  sight  in  one  mine  on  the  Comstock. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  output  of  gold  had  declined, 
and  it  was  the  flood  of  silver  that  they  feared,  because 
it  must  be  remembered  that  dealers  in  bonds  and  credits 
have  from  the  beginning  of  the  world  desired  to  make 
money  dear  by  making  it  scarcer. 

They  first  feared  a  flood  of  gold  and  wanted  to 
demonetize  that  metal  to  make  money  scarce.  Then 
came  the  flood  of  silver,  and  they  feared  that  more  than 
gold. 

John  Sherman  undertook  the  duty  of  carrying  into 
effect  in  the  United  States  what  he  and  the  conference 
in  Paris  had  recommended.  A  cunning  plan  was 
invented  to  accomplish  that  purpose. 

John  J.  Knox,  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  a 
crafty,  scheming,  money-making  individual,  to  whom 
I  have  on  many  occasions  paid  my  respects,  got  up  a 
codification^  of  the  mint  laws.  I  have  no  doubt  the 
scheme  was  conceived  for  the  sole  purpose  of  clandes 
tinely  omitting  the  silver  dollar  from  the  list  of  coins. 

John  Sherman  introduced  the  bill,  and  continually 
talked  about  the  silver  dollar,  and  the  inscriptions 
thereon,  etc.  But  when  it  became  a  law  it  was  found 
there  was  no  silver  dollar  in  the  bill,  the  trade  dollar 
containing  120  grains  taking  the  place  of  the  silver 
dollar,  and  thus  silver  was  demonetized. 

If  anybody  doubts  he  did  that,  and  has  patience  to 
examine  the  debates  between  him  and  myself,  it  will 
be  seen  how  he  falsified  his  statements.  It  will 
be  seen  that  the  manipulators  would  take  either 
gold  or  silver,  or  any  other  material,  provided  they  could 
make  money  scarce  and  dear  and  property  cheap,  and 
thus  enslave  the  masses  and  enrich  the  classes. 

If  the  selfish  purposes  of  the  fetish  worshiper  of  the 
material  upon  which  the  Government  stamps  money 
could  be  exposed,  the  people  might  investigate  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         289 

question  and  compel  the  Government  to  stamp  money 
upon  material  which  the  unscrupulous  could  not 
monopolize. 

While  civilization  has  been  subject  to  the  fluctuation 
of  the  product  of  the  mines  for  the  last  two  thousand 
years,  by  which  fluctuation  speculators  in  money  have 
grown  rich,  and  the  people  have  been  reduced  to  pov 
erty,  the  Shylocks  have  not  always  guessed  right. 

In  1896,  when  poverty  and  misery  were  well-nigh 
universal  in  the  civilized  world,  a  marvelous  output  of 
gold  changed  conditions. 

In  the  last  decade  there  have -been  in  round  numbers 
three  thousand  millions  of  gold  added  to  the  circulation 
of  the  civilized  world,  and  prosperity  exists  every 
where,  although  bondholders  have  not  reaped  their 
usual  harvest.  The  depreciation  of  gold  during  the  last 
ten  years  has  fully  equaled  the  interest  on  debts. 

What  Chevalier  and  Maclaren  feared  fifty  years  ago 
for  the  creditor  class  of  that  day  has  occurred  to  the 
bondholders  of  to-day  by  the  recent  output  of  gold. 

John  Sherman's  conspiracy  was  more  successful.  To 
avoid  the  depreciation  of  bonds  by  an  increase  of  money 
derived  from  silver,  the  conspiracy  of  1873,  which 
demonetized  silver  when  the  output  of  both"  gold  and 
silver  furnished  a  scanty (/ supply  of  money,  secured 
enormous  gains  to  the  rich  and  robbed  the  people  for 
more  than  twenty  years  by  decreasing  prices  of  property  ; 
and  increasing  the  obligations  of  debt. 

If  the  present  output  of  gold  continues  to  increase,  the 
power  of  the  creditor  class  of  the  world  will  be  exerted 
to  the  utmost  to  demonetize  gold  (as  by  repudiation), 
and  they  will  endeavor  to  adopt  some  other  material 
less  abundant  which  will  again  depreciate  the  value  of 
property  and  enhance  the  value  of  money  and  bonds. 

On  December  15,  1887,  I  offered  a  bill  to  restore 
silver  to  its  place  as  a  money  metal,  and  made  an 
elaborate  speech.  My  bill  was  referred  to  the  Commit- 

19 


290         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

tee  on  Finance,  where  it  slept,  but  I  continued  to  bring 
the  question  before  the  Senate  on  all  proper  occasions. 

John  Sherman  of  Ohio,  whenever  the  subject  was 
alluded  to,  declared  that  the  unfortunate  Mint  bill 
had  been  passed  after  full  discussion,  in  the  light  of  day, 
and  that  silver  was  deliberately  and  intentionally 
demonetized  by  Congress. 

On  the  8th  of  March,  1888,  I  proved  in  the  Senate 
by  quotations  from  Mr.  Sherman's  speech  on  the  bill 
to  codify  the  mint  laws  from  which  the  silver  dollar 
was  omitted,  and  by  which  silver  was  demonetized,  that 
Mr.  Sherman,  then  chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Finance,  deceived  the  Senate.  He  told  them  there  was 
a  silver  dollar  provided  for  in  the  bill,  which  was  not 
true.  He  said: 

This  bill  [the  bill  which  demonetized  silver]  proposes  a  silver 
coinage  exactly  the  same  as  the  French  and  what  are  called  the 
associated  nations  of  Europe,  who  have  adopted  the  international 
standard  of  silver  coinage ;  that  is,  the  dollar  provided  for  by 
this  bill  is  the  precise  equivalent  of  the  five-franc  piece. 

There  was  no  such  dollar  in  the  bill,  Mr.  Sherman 
attempted  to  explain.  I  told  him,  "The  question  is 
what  you  did  say,  not  what  you  now  think  you  meant  to 
say."  I  then  read  to  the  Senate  an  amendment  offered 
by  him  to  the  bill  demonetizing  silver  when  that  bill 
was  under  consideration,  which  contained  the  following 
language : 

That  upon  the  coins  of  the  United  States  there  shall  be  the 
following  devices  and  legends:  Upon  one  side  there  shall  be  an 
impression  emblematic  of  liberty,  with  an  inscription  of  the  word 
"Liberty"  and  the  year  of  the  coinage,  and  upon  the  reverse  shall 
be  the  figure  or  representation  of  an  eagle,  with  the  inscription 
"United  States  of  America"  and  "E  Pluribus  Unum"  and  a  designa 
tion  of  the  value  of  the  coin ;  but  on  the  gold  dollar  and  three- 
dollar  piece,  the  silver  dollar,  the  half  dollar,  the  quarter-dollar, 
the  dime,  five,  three  and  one-cent  pieces  the  figure  of  the  eagle 
shall  be  omitted;  and  on  the  reverse  of  the  silver  dollar  *  *  *  . 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         291 

I  also  called  Senator  Sherman's  attention  to  other 
statements  which  he  made  to  the  Senate  when  the  bill 
by  which  silver  was  demonetized  was  under  considera 
tion,  all  of  which  were  caluculated  to  deceive  the  Senate, 
and  make  it  appear  that  the  silver  dollar  was  in  the 
bill. 

My  discussion  with  Senator  Sherman  clearly  proves 
that  he  deceived  the  Senate.  I  also  proved  from  the 
Record  that  the  House  of  Representatives  was  also 
deceived  by  Mr.  Hooper,  chairman  of  the  Committee 
on  Coinage,  Weights  and  Measures.  I  gave  Mr.  Sher 
man  ample  opportunity  to  exculpate  himself  from  my 
charge  that  the  bill  demonetizing  silver  was  passed 
through  both  Houses  of  Congress  without  the  knowl 
edge  of  any  member  thereof  not  on  the  committees 
having  charge  of  the  bill.* 


*Cong.     Record,     1st     Sess.,     50th     Cong.,     Vol.     19,     Part     II, 
pp.   1850-1-2-3. 


CHAPTER    XXXII 

Nomination  of  Benjamin  Harrison — How  John  Sherman  was  beaten 
for  the  Presidency — Harrison's  pledge  for  free  coinage  and 
how  he  repudiated  it — Debate  with  Reagan — Lodge's  "Force" 
bill. 

In  June,  1888,  the  National  Republican  Convention 
was  held  at  Chicago.  I  had  the  honor  to  be  a  delegate 
from  Nevada  to  that  convention.  John  Sherman  of 
Ohio  was  the  leading  candidate.  There  were  quite  a 
number  of  other  gentlemen  in  the  field,  among  whom 
James  G.  Elaine,  Russell  A.  Alger,  and  Benjamin  Har 
rison  were  most  prominent. 

In  combination  with  the  advocates  of  restoration  of 
silver  in  the  West,  Nevada  took  an  active  part  in  the 
defeat  of  Mr.  Sherman.  My  expose  of  his  duplicity  in 
smuggling  the  silver  dollar  out  of  the  list  of  coins  in 
the  Mint  bill  had  been  extensively  circulated,  and  the 
friends  of  bi-metalism  concentrated  their  efforts  to 
defeat  John  Sherman  of  Ohio.  They  were  aided  in 
their  efforts  by  General  Alger,  who  secured  a  large 
part  of  the  colored  delegation  from  the  South  which 
were  brought  to  Washington  by  Mr.  Sherman,  who 

.  supposed  he  was  entitled  to  their  votes,  first,  last,  and 

all  the  time. 

In  the  second  volume  of  Mr.  Sherman's  biography, 

L  V^  page   1029,   he  deliberately    accuses    General    Alger's 
friends    of    procuring    votes    from    the    South    which 

tCifcsl*  belonged  to  him.    He  says: 

I  believe,  and  had  as  I  thought,  conclusive  proof  that  the  friends 
of  General  Alger  substantially  purchased  the  votes  of  many  of 
the  delegates  from  the  Southern  States  who  had  been  instructed 
by  their  conventions  to  vote  for  me. 

Mr.  Sherman  also  says  on  the  same  page  of  his 
biography : 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         293 

I  believed  then,  as  I  believe  now,  that  one  of  the  delegates 
from  the  State  of  New  York  practically  controlled  the  whole 
delegation,  and  that  a  corrupt  bargain  was  made  on  Sunday  which 
.transferred  the  great  body  of  the  vote  of  New  York  to  General 
Harrison,  and  thus  led  to  his  nomination. 

What  reason  Mr.  Sherman  had  for  accusing  the  New 
York  delegation  of  corruption  in  the  transfer  of  their 
votes  to  General  Harrison,  it  is  difficult  to  understand. 
They  certainly  did  not  transfer  them  from  Mr.  Sher 
man,  for  he  informs  us  in  the  same  connection  that 
he  did  not  at  any  time  receive  a  vote  from  the  State 
of  New  York,  although  eight  ballots  had  been  taken 
previous  to  the  Sunday  mentioned  by  Mr.  Sherman. 

Mr.  Sherman  appeared  to  be  ignorant  of  the 
determined  fight  made  against  his  nomination  by  dele 
gates  who  resented  his  duplicity  in  demonetizing  silver. 

The  friends  of  General  Harrison,  or  General  Harri 
son  himself,  it  matters  not  which,  were  untrue  to  the 
silver  men  and  secured  their  influence  by  false  represen 
tations.  They  told  me  that  Harrison  was  in  favor  of. 
remonetization  of  silver;  but  that  in  view  of  the  large 
number  of  advocates  of  the  gold  standard  in  the 
convention,  he  could  not  pledge  himself  to  recommend 
to  Congress  free-coinage  legislation;  but  that  he  would 
not  use  the  influence  of  the  Administration  against 
legislation  for  the  restoration  of  silver,  nor  would  he 
veto  any  bill  that  Congress  might  pass  to  rehabilitate 
silver. 

I  wrote  a  statement  embodying  what  his  friends  said 
to  me,  and  told  them  to  take  it  to  General  Harrison 
and  obtain  his  consent  or  dissent  to  the  proposition. 
They  returned  to  me  with  the  positive  assurance,  as  they 
alleged,  direct  from  General  Harrison,  that  he  would 
not  use  his  influence,  if  elected  President,  to  prevent  the 
passage  of  a  free-coinage  bill,  and  if  one  were  passed 
by  Congress  he  would  gladly  sign  it. 

When  it  was  known  that  the  silver  delegates  in  the 


294         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

convention  would  unanimously  support  General  Harri 
son,  the  New  York  delegation  and  other  large  dele 
gations  were  at  once  transferred  to  him,  and  his  nomina 
tion  was  secured. 

The  active  cooperation  of  Grover  Cleveland  in  the 
manipulation  of  the  currency  by  the  Rothschilds  of 
London  and  J.  Pierpont  Morgan  of  New  York  was 
very  unpopular  with  the  people.  He  was  accused  by  both 
leading  Democrats  and  Republicans  of  having  betrayed 
his  party  and  of  having  turned  his  back  upon  the  Demo 
cratic  platform  of  1884  upon  which  he  was  elected. 
That  platform  declared: 

We  believe  in  honest  money,  the  gold  and  silver  coinage  of 
the  Constitution,  and  a  circulating  medium  convertible  into  such 
money  without  loss. 

That  declaration  secured  Mr.  Cleveland's  election 
and  brought  the  silver  men  to  his  support.  The  plat 
form  and  pledges  upon  which  Harrison's  campaign  was 
made  were  in  sharp  contrast  with  the  positions  taken  by 
Cleveland's  Administration.  Congress  remained  in  ses 
sion  during  a  large  portion  of  the  campaign  of  that 
year. 

On  September  4,  my  friend,  Senator  John  H.  Reagan 
of  Texas,  and  I  had  a  running  debate  with  regard  to  the 
two  candidates  for  the  Presidency,  Cleveland  and  Har 
rison.  Reagan  had  made  up  his  mind  to  vote  for  Cleve 
land,  notwithstanding  his  betrayal  of  the  Democratic 
party  on  the  money  question.  I  said  in  the  course  of 
the  debate: 

I  am  sorry  to  see  that  my  friend  from  Texas  contemplates 
with  composure  the  spectacle  that  is  before  him  with  the  election 
of  Mr.  Cleveland,  if  that  calamity  could  possibly  happen. 

Mr.  Reagan  replied: 

I  am  obliged  to  the  Senator  from  Nevada  for  his  kindness  and 
sympathy  and  sorrow  for  my  unfortunate  position.  I  simply  ask 
him  to  reverse  that  picture  and  look  through  the  other  end  of  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         295 

glass.  The  Republican  party,  which  brought  about  the  condition 
of  things  which  contracted  the  currency,  which  demonetized  silver, 
and  which  is  responsible  for  it,  has  no  condemnation  from  him, 
and  he  is  supporting  that  party  when  he  knows  that  the  Democrats 
in  both  Houses  of  Congress  hold  the  same  views  that  he  does, 
and  yet  he  fails  to  act  with  them,  and  acts  and  votes  with  the 
party  that  has  produced  the  very  condition  of  things  which  he 
laments  and  condemns. 

MR.  STEWART:    Will  the  Senator  allow  me  a  word? 

MR.    REAGAN  :     Certainly. 

MR.  STEWART:  I  know  two  things  which  reconcile  me  to  my 
position.  We  know  that  Cleveland  will  veto  any  bill  giving  relief, 
or  looking  to  the  remonetization  or  recoinage  of  silver,  and  we 
know  that  Harrison  will  not. 

MR.  REAGAN  :  I  do  not  see  how  the  Senator  knows  that.  I 
simply  want  the  Senator  to  reverse  the  glass  and  look  at  himself 
supporting  and  vindicating  a  party  that  brought  these  things  about, 
and  refusing  to  act  with  the  great  body  of  the  Democratic  party 
in  correcting  them.  I  shall  express  no  sorrow  for  it.  He  does  not 
want  that.  If  he  does  not  mind,  he  will  express  the  sorrow  for 
himself  after  a  while. 

MR.  STEWART:  I  like  my  condition.  The  Republican  party  has 
declared  in  favor  of  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  money — 
not  as  a  depreciated  coinage,  but  as  money. 

At  that  time  I  believed  that  Harrison  was  an  honest 
man  and  would  stand  by  the  pledges  his  friends  made 
to  the  silver  delegates  in  the  National  Convention,  and 
that  he  certainly  would  be  guided  by  the  platform  of  his 
party.  I  was  deceived  and  disappointed.  After  his 
election  he  demanded  legislation  repudiating  the  use  of 
silver  for  any  purpose. 

The  Republican  convention  which  nominated  Ben 
jamin  Harrison  placed  in  its  platform  a  pledge  in 
favor  of  silver  much  stronger  than  that  which  the  silver 
men  received  from  the  managers  of  the  Harrison  cam 
paign.  The  plank  in  the  Republican  platform  upon 
which  he  was  elected  declared,  as  before  stated,  that: 

The  Republican  party  is  in  favor  of  the  use  of  both  gold  and 
silver  as  money,  and  condemns  the  policy  of  the  Democratic  admin 
istration  in  its  efforts  to  demonetize  silver. 


296         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

This  plank  I  drew  myself  after  an  all-night  session 
of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  discussing  the  ques 
tion  of  silver.  The  Committee  on  Resolutions  and  the 
entire  convention  were  deliberately  pledged  to  the  fore 
going  proposition. 

Harrison,  after  he  was  elected  President,  not  only 
disregarded  the  pledge  he  had  made  to  the  silver  dele 
gates  in  the  Chicago  Convention  which  secured  his 
nomination,  but  utterly  repudiated  the  platform  upon 
which  he  was  elected,  and  did  all  in  his  power  to  pre 
vent  silver  legislation. 

Congress  had  more  respect  for  the  National  platform 
than  the  Chief  Executive.  On  July  14,  1890,  the 
House  having  passed  a  bill  which  was  substantially  a 
free-coinage  bill,  it  was  apparent  a  majority  of  the  Sen 
ate  were  favorable  to  the  House  bill. 

A  compromise  measure  was  prepared  by  the  Com 
mittee  on  Finance  of  which  John  Sherman  was  chair 
man.  As  the  organ  of  the  committee  he  reported  the 
bill,  and  it  was  consequently  called  the  Sherman  Act, 
although  he  was  not  in  favor  of  it  or  any  other  legisla 
tion  looking  to  a  further  use  of  silver.  His  excuse  for 
reporting  it  was  that  it  was  necessary  to  defeat  free- 
coinage  legislation.  The  bill  enacted: 

That  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  is  hereby  directed  to  pur 
chase  from  time  to  time  silver  bullion  to  the  aggregate  amount 
of  four  million  five  hundred  thousand  ounces,  or  so  much  thereof 
as  may  be  offered  in  each  mon.th,  at  the  market  price  thereof,  not 
exceeding  one  dollar  for  three  hundred  and  seventy  one  and  twenty- 
five  hundredths  grains  of  pure  silver,  and  to  issue  in  payment  for 
such  purchases  of  silver  bullion  Treasury  notes  of  the  United 
States  to  be  prepared  by  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  in  such 
form  and  of  such  denominations,  not  less  than  one  dollar,  nor  more 
than  one  thousand  dollars,  as  he  may  prescribe. 

This  law  gave  great  relief  and  created  comparative 
good  times  until  the  Cleveland  raid  on  the  finances  of 
the  country. 

President  Harrison  not  only  operated  with  the  fren- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         297 

zied  financiers  of  New  York  and  London  in  manipu 
lating  the  money  of  the  western  world  to  rob  the 
masses,  but  he  devoted  his  Administration  to  an  attempt 
to  confer  on  the  Federal  Government  control  of  all 
elections,  local  and  national. 

Henry  Cabot  Lodge  of  Massachusetts,  then  a  mem 
ber  of  the  House,  cooperated  with  the  President,  and 
on  June  14,  1890,  introduced  a  bill*  to  amend  the 
Federal  election  laws  of  the  United  States,  which 
was  referred  to  the  select  committee  on  elections  of 
President,  Vice-President,  and  Representatives  in  Con 
gress.  This  bill  was  so  amended  by  the  committee, 
and  by  Mr.  Lodge  on  the  floor  of  the  House,  that  it 
practically  placed  all  elections  under  special  officers 
appointed  by  the  President,  backed  by  the  military  arm 
of  the  Government.  It  seemed  to  me  that  its  passage 
would  subvert  the  Government  of  the  United  States 
and  substitute  military  dictation  for  civil  authority  in 
elections  in  the  several  States. 

The  contest  in  the  House  was  elaborate  and  pro 
tracted,  but  finally  on  July  2,  1890,  the  bill  passed  the 
House  by  a  vote  of  155  to  149.  There  was  a  majority 
of  about  six  in  favor  of  the  bill  in  the  Senate.  It  was 
an  Administration  measure  and  Republican  Senators 
naturally  supported  it.  It  was  a  long  bill,  sweeping  in 
its  provisions,  and  sufficiently  ambiguous  to  puzzle 
ordinary  readers.  I  found  by  my  conversation  with 
Republican  Senators  that  very  few  of  them  possessed 
any  real  knowledge  of  the  provisions  of  the  bill. 

Benton  McMillin  of  the  House,  afterward  Gov 
ernor  of  Tennessee,  called  at  my  rooms  in  the  Shoreham 
Hotel  shortly  after  the  bill  passed  the  House  and  found 
me  examining  its  provisions.  After  some  preliminary 
conversation  he  asked  me  what  I  thought  of  the  meas 
ure,  and  if  I  thought  it  would  pass  the  Senate.  I 
told  him  I  was  very  much  opposed  to  the  bill,  but  that 


*H.  R.  10958,  5ist  Cong.,  ist  Sess. 


298         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

there  was  only  one  chance  of  defeating  it  in  the  Senate, 
and  that  was  by  delay. 

I  said  to  him  that  there  were  many  important 
measures  pending  before  the  Senate ;  the  tariff  bill,  and 
others  of  almost  equal  importance.  If  it  could  be  so 
arranged  as  to  consider  those  bills  before  the  election 
bill,  commonly  called  the  "Force  bill,"  so  that  it  would 
not  be  considered  in  the  long  session,  it  might  be 
defeated  in  the  short  session  by  debate  and  parlia 
mentary  tactics.  I  told  him  to  tell  his  friends  to  keep 
quiet  and  supply  what  aid  they  could  in  placing  the 
consideration  of  the  Force  bill  after  the  tariff  and  other 
bills  were  disposed  of.  He  reported  to  me  from  time 
to  time  such  facts  as  he  could  learn  with  regard  to  the 
order  of  business.  Finally  a  caucus  of  the  Republican 
Senators  was  called  to  arrange  the  order  of  business. 
I  did  all  in  my  power  to  assist  every  Senator  who  had 
a  favorite  measure  to  advance  its  consideration,  and 
it  so  happened  that  the  Force  bill  was  placed  low  on  the 
calendar  of  measures  to  be  considered,  and  was  not 
reached  during  the  long  session. 

Senator  Gorman  of  Maryland,  the  leader  of  the  Dem 
ocratic  party  in  the  Senate,  managed  the  opposition  to 
the  bill  with  skill  and  ability  from  the  beginning.  We  con 
sulted  together  constantly  as  to  the  mode  of  procedure. 

Congress  convened  on  December  i,  1890.  The 
President  in  his  message  argued  at  some  length  in  favor 
of  the  Force  bill,  and  urgently  recommended  its  pas 
sage.  On  December  3  the  Senate  resumed  considera 
tion  of  the  Force  bill,  and  Mr.  Hoar  immediately 
requested  that  that  portion  of  the  President's  message 
relating  to  the  Federal  election  law  be  read,  which  was 
accordingly  done. 

The  message  was  an  urgent  appeal  to  Congress  to 
pass  the  Lodge  Force  bill  and  place  the  control  of  elec 
tions  in  the  Federal  Executive.  The  bill  was  debated 
from  time  to  time  until  the  holidays  intervened. 


CHAPTER    XXXIII 

Force  bill  resumed — Side-tracked  for  silver  with  aid  of  new 
Senators  from  Idaho — Trip  to  New  York  to  pair  Senator  Stan 
ford  against  Force  bill — I  outwit  Senator  Aldrich — Confir 
mation  of  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar. 

On  January  5,  when  the  new  Senators  from  Idaho, 
McConnell  and  Shoup,  took  their  seats,  I  inquired  of 
them  if  they  would  vote  to  take  up  the  Silver  bill  if  I 
made  a  motion  to  that  effect.  They  assured  me  they 
would.  It  so  happened  that  with  the  Senators  then 
present  their  votes  would  make  a  majority  to  take  up 
the  bill.  Senator  George  of  Mississippi  had  the  floor 
on  the  election  bill  and  Senator  Harris  of  Tennessee 
was  in  the  chair.  I  informed  Mr.  Gorman  of  the  situa 
tion  and  asked  him  if  he  would  notify  Senator  Harris 
of  the  motion  I  was  about  to  make,  and  ask  Senator 
George  to  yield  for  the  purpose  of  the  motion.  He 
reported  that  it  was  all  right,  and  I  moved  to  take  up 
the  Silver  bill.  No  debate  could  be  had  on  a  motion  to 
take  up  a  bill,  whatever  business  might  be  before  the 
Senate.  Senator  Harris  promptly  submitted  the  question 
to  the  Senate.  Mr.  Hoar  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays, 
which  were  ordered.*  The  motion  was  carried,  and 
the  Silver  bill  was  taken  up,  34  to  29. 

The  Silver  bill,  in  connection  with  other  necessary 
bills,  occupied  the  attention  of  the  Senate  until  January 
1 6,  1891,  when  the  Senate  again  resumed  consideration 
of  the  Force  bill.  I  then  addressed  the  Senate  as 
follows  :f 

Mr.  President,  I  desire  to  call  the  attention  of  the  Senate  to 
the  constitutional  provision  under  which  this  legislation  is  proposed. 
We  have  the  power  conferred  by  the  Constitution  to  legislate  as  to 

*Cong.  Record,  5ist  Cong.,  2nd  Sess.,  Part  I,  p.  912. 
fCong.  Record,  Sist  Cong.,  2nd  Sess.,  Part  II,  p.  1642. 


300         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  time,  place,  and  manner  of  electing  Representatives  in  Congress. 
The  only  provision  of  the  Constitution  that  gives  warrant  for  such 
legislation  is  found  in  the  fourth  section  of  the  first  article  of  the 
Constitution,  and  reads  as  follows : 

"The  times,  places,  and  manner  of  holding  elections  for  Senators 
and  Representatives  shall  be  prescribed  in  each  State  by  the  Legis 
lature  thereof;  but  the  Congress  may  at  any  time,  by  law,  mal^  or 
alter  such  regulations,  except  as  to  the  place  of  choosing  Senators." 

The  entire  warrant  for  any  legislation  on  this  subject  must  be 
found  in  this  provision.  I  am  aware  of  the  principle  of  construction 
that  when  power  is  given  to  Congress  by  the  Constitution  to  do  a 
given  thing,  that  power  carries  with  it  by  implication  the  doing 
of  all  other  things  necessary  to  accomplish  that  purpose.  We  have 
the  power  to  make  regulations  or  to  alter  the  regulations  made  by 
the  State  Legislatures  as  to  the  election  of  Congressmen,  and  there 
our  power  ends.  We  have  no  power  to  deal  with  the  election  of 
State  officers;  we  have  no  power  to  deal  with  the  election  of 
electors  of  President  and  Vice-President  except  to  fix  the  time  of 
such  election. 

Now,  if  in  exercising  the  power  conferred  to  alter  the  State 
regulations  as  to  the  election  of  Members  of  Congress,  we  inter 
fere  with  powers  that  do  not  belong  to  Congress,  but  are  especially 
reserved  by  the  States,  we  are  passing  the  bounds  of  our  functions 
and  violating  the  Constitution. 

Is  it  true  that,  because  Members  of  Congress  are  elected  at 
the  same  time  with  State  officers  and  with  electors  of  President 
and  Vice-President,  therefore  the  Federal  Government  may  regu 
late  in  any  manner  State  elections,  may  inspect  ballots  for  State 
officers  and  supervise  and  regulate  all  the  proceedings  governing 
local  elections?  Is  the  power  to  fix  the  times,  places,  and  manner 
of  holding  Congressional  elections  sufficient  warrant  for  all  that? 
Does  it  give  that  power?  The  answer  must  be  in  the  negative. 

What  is  the  condition  of  the  legislation  of  the  several  States 
with  regard  to  the  times  and  places  and  manner  of  holding  Con 
gressional  elections  ?  Are  they  not  held  in  nearly  all  the  States  at 
the  same  time  as  the  State  elections,  and  must  they  not  of  necessity 
remain  so  until  after  the  next  general  election?  If  this  bill  in  its 
present  form  should  become  a  law,  would  not  the  Federal  officers 
whom  it  creates  be  present,  supervise  and  regulate  all  State  elec 
tions  two  years  hence?  The  Presidential  electors  are  elected,  I 
believe,  in  nearly  every  State  in  the  Union  at  the  same  time  as 
Representatives  in  Congress  are  elected.  Is  not  the  machinery  of 
this  bill  especially  calculated  to  have  present  a  horde  of  Federal 
officers,  paid  with  Federal  money,  to  supervise  not  only  Congres- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         301 

sional   elections,   but  elections  of  electors   of   President  and  Vice- 
President? 

It  must  be  remembered  that  Congress  may  fix  the  time  of 
electing  electors  of  President  and  Vice-President,  and  if  that  time 
be  fixed  permanently  on  the  same  day  Congressmen  are  elected 
then  the  supervisors  of  elections  will  not  only  control  the  elec 
tion  of  Congressmen,  but  will  necessarily  manage  and  control  the 
election  of  electors  of  the  President  and  Vice-President.  And  for 
the  present,  and  until  the  States  shall  have  fixed  some  other  day 
for  their  general  elections,  the  elections  to  be  supervised  by  Federal 
officers  under  the  provisions  of  this  bill  must  include  Members  of 
Congress,  Presidential  electors,  and  all  State  officers.  Besides, 
many  of  the  States  have  fixed  the  time  for  elections  in  their  consti 
tutions,  which  cannot  be  changed  for  years.  The  practical  result 
of  this  bill  will  be  to  place  the  control  of  all  elections,  State  and 
National,  in  charge  of  Federal  officers. 

We  are  not  children.  All  of  us  have  seen  elections  enough  to 
know  that  a  horde  of  officers  at  the  polls  with  a  purpose  to  con 
trol  elections,  having  the  right  to  inspect  the  ballots,  having  the 
right  to  arrest,  having  the  right  to  keep  order,  having  the  right 
of  supervising  everything,  will  exercise  an  overwhelming  power 
at  a  general  election  and  influence  the  result  as  to  every  officer 
voted  for  at  such  election.  We  all  know  that  an  army  of  officers 
at  the  polls,  backed  by  the  prestige  of  the  General  Government, 
must  dominate  local  elections  and  affect  the  result  of  the  election 
of  State  officers  of  every  State  in  the  Union.  If  this  bill,  which 
mixes  the  election  of  Members  of  Congress  with  all  other  elec 
tions,  should  pass,  a  spectacle  will  be  presented  of  the  imperial 
power  of  the  General  Government  dominating  local  elections 
throughout  the  United  States.  The  elections  must  be  commingled 
at  the  next  election  in  every  State,  and  inasmuch  as  constitutions 
must  be  amended  and  constitutional  laws  be  changed  before  the 
States  would  be  able  to  separate  them,  if  this  bill  becomes  a  law 
there  is  little  hope  that  hereafter  local  elections  will  be  free  from 
Federal  control. 

The  spectacle  will  be  presented  by  the  passage  of  this  bill  of 
a  President  appointing  marshals  and  judges  to  assist  him  in  a 
reelection  to  his  high  office.  This  army  of  officers  will  also  be  inter 
ested  in  retaining  their  places  under  the  Executive  who  appointed 
them. 

Is  not  the  Presidential  office  strong  enough?  Has  it  not  the 
veto  power,  expanded  from  a  dead  letter  to  a  living  power  that 
controls  at  least  one-third  of  the  votes  of  both  Houses  of  Con 
gress  ?  Is  it  not  a  living  power  that  dispenses  patronage  the  like 
of  which  and  the  extent  of  which  were  never  before  known  on 


302         Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart 

earth?  Is  not  that  patronage  constantly  increasing?  Is  there  ncr; 
a  clamor  to  increase  it?  Is  it  not  proposed  in  many  quarters  to 
give  the  President  control  of  telegraphs,  railroads,  and  many  other 
things  ? 

The  Administration  through  the  Secretary  of  the  Treasury 
already  has  control  of  the  finances  of  the  country,  and  under  your 
legislation  he  can  expand  and  contract  the  currency  at  pleasure. 
These  enormous  powers  are  in  the  hands  of  one  man,  and  if  you 
further  put  in  his  hands  millions  of  government  money  and  an 
army  of  retainers  at  the  polls  under  the  pretext  of  controlling 
Congressional  elections,  you  will  have  great  difficulty  after  a  time 
in  continuing  your  Presidential  elections  unless  you  will  con 
tinue  to  elect  the  same  man. 

The  passage  of  this  law  will,  in  the  next  election  at  least, 
and  perhaps  forever,  place  over  all  the  local  elections  this  super 
vising  power  with  high-paid  officers.  That  will  be  the  beginning 
of  the  end  of  free  government. 

I  protest  against  legislation  that  will  change  the  spirit  and 
intent  of  the  Constitution.  If  this  bill  must  be  passed,  if  the 
power  given  by  the  Constitution  must  be  exercised,  exercise  it 
by  separate  Congressional  elections  at  a  time  when  no  other  election 
is  held  and  in  a  manner  prescribed  by  the  Constitution.  Go  no 
further  than  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  that  instrument.  What 
ever  may  be  said  of  the  evils  that  exist,  you  have  no  right  to 
subvert  the  Constitution  and  use  the  authority  given  to  fix  the 
times,  places,  and  manner  of  electing  Congressmen  for  the  purpose 
of  controlling  all  other  elections.  If  it  be  said  that  Congres 
sional  elections  are  held  at  the  same  time  as  local  elections,  and 
that  they  cannot  be  regulated  without  also  regulating  the  latter, 
and  that  Congress  has  the  power  of  regulating  Congressional 
elections,  and  therefore  the  regulation  of  local  elections  is  but 
an  incident  of  the  exercise  of  the  power  given,  I  maintain  that 
this  is  no  excuse.  Congress  has  the  power  to  exercise  the  authority 
given  in  the  Constitution  without  interfering  with  local  elections, 
by  fixing  a  separate  day  for  Congressional  elections. 

When  you  so  legislate  as  to  exercise  the  power  given  by  the 
Constitution  to  regulate  the  method  of  electing  Congressmen  it  is 
your  duty  at  the  same  time  to  see  that  you  do  not  override  other 
and  more  important  provisions  of  the  Constitution. 

This  bill,  taking  hold  as  it  does  of  the  whole  State  machinery 
and  providing  as  it  does  for  paid  agents  to  represent  partisans 
on  the  one  side  or  the  other,  is  dangerous  not  only  to  the  country, 
but  to  the  Republican  party.  It  is  a  sword  that  will  cut  both  ways. 
It  can  be  used  by  Democrats  as  well  as  by  Republicans,  but  in  each 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart         303 

case  it  will  be  used  against  the  liberties  of  the  people.  If  the 
Federal  authorities  can  have  at  all  the  polls  in  the  United  States 
paid  retainers  to  govern  and  control  the  local  elections,  you  have 
gone  very  far  toward  changing  the  form  of  this  Government  from 
a  republic  to  a  monarchy.  There  is  no  use  in  saying  that  you  can 
manage  these  elections  better  than  the  people.  That  is  always  the 
plea  of  tyrants.  That  is  the  reason  given  by  despots  for  the  exer 
cise  of  imperial  power.  Their  excuse  for  governing  is  that  they 
are  wiser  than  the  masses.  Local  self-government  is  the  founda 
tion  of  free  institutions.  It  is  the  only  guaranty  against  despotism. 
This  bill,  if  enacted  into  a  law,  would  not  only  violate  the  Con 
stitution,  but  also  the  fundamental  principles  of  free  institutions. 

The  control  of  Congressional  elections,  mixed  and  commingled 
with  all  other  elections,  means  that  there  will  be  no  more  freedom 
among  the  people,  but  that  the  people  shall  be  dominated  by  the 
paid  agents  of  Federal  power.  I  contend  that  if  there  is  a  necessity 
for  any  legislation  of  this  kind,  the  bill  should  be  recommitted 
and  stripped  of  its  unconstitutional  provisions.  There  certainly 
is  no  such  evil  in  the  United  States  as  will  warrant  Congress,  by 
this  indirect  mode,  in  depriving  the  people  of  the  right  to  select 
their  own  local  officers  without  the  interference  of  the  General 
Government.  Evils  always  exist  in  local  government,  but  they 
regulate  themselves.  If  the  General  Government  should  attempt  to 
remedy  all  the  defects  in  local  elections  and  such  an  attempt 
should  be  successful,  free  institutions  would  be  at  an  end.  Patron 
age  and  the  veto  power  are  being  enlarged  and  expanded  every  day. 
These  powers  are  now  exercised  by  common  consent  with  a  freedom 
and  extravagance  that  would  have  astonished  the  framers  of  the 
Constitution. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  it  was  the  veto  power  and  the 
dispensing  power  which  produced  the  revolution  in  England.  Our 
ancestors  fought  against  such  usurpation  for  generations,  and 
when  our  Constitution  was  being  formed  there  was  a  strong  pro 
test  against  the  veto  power  and  all  other  kingly  prerogatives.  Mr. 
Hamilton  said  that,  as  the  veto  power  had  not  been  exercised  in 
England  since  the  Revolution,  it  would  not  be  used  in  this  country 
except  to  defend  the  Presidential  office  from  usurpation  by  Con 
gress.  Under  this  special  plea  the  fatal  power  was  incorporated 
in  the  Constitution.  Franklin  warned  them  of  the  danger.  The 
danger  that  Franklin  predicted  has  come.  No  legislation  can  be 
devised  in  either  House  of  Congress  the  promoters  of  which  do  not 
tremble  under  the  cloud  of  the  veto. 

It  has  been  so  for  the  last  eight  or  ten  years,  and  that  cloud 
is  growing  larger  and  larger;  and  now,  with  all  that  immense 
power  and  that  immense  patronage  that  are  so  all-controlling, 


304         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

you  propose  to  place  in  the  hands  of  the  Executive  the  further 
power  to  appoint  election  officers  at  the  polls,  paid  by  the  Govern 
ment,  without  limit  as  to  number,  to  intimidate  and  override  the 
people  by  their  force  of  imperial  power.  It  ought  not  to  be  done. 
The  plea  for  pure  Congressional  elections  is  not  a  sufficient  excuse. 

If  this  bill  is  not  to  be  confined  to  Congressional  elections 
alone,  it  ought  not  to  pass.  Congressional  should  not  be  mixed 
with  State  elections.  It  will  alarm  the  people  to  see  this  bill 
go  into  operation.  They  will  rebel  in  the  North  as  well  as  in  the 
South  when  Federal  officers  are  empowered  to  supervise  local  elec 
tions,  and  that  rebellion  will  come  quickly.  The  people  will  not 
submit  to  the  surrender  of  the  right  of  local  self-government. 
There  is  no  excuse  for  interfering  with  local  elections.  Con 
gressional  elections  can  and  must  be  separated  from  them  if  it  is 
really  necessary  for  the  Government  of  the  United  States  to  super 
vise  the  elections  of  Representatives  in  Congress. 

Let  no  man  think  that  the  people  of  this  country  are  prepared 
for  Federal  interference  in  local  elections.  It  cannot  be  done 
with  impunity.  The  States  are  jealous  of  their  rights  and  will 
assert  them.  I  remember  the  description  of  the  feeling  in  Colorado 
as  given  us  the  other  day  by  the  junior  Senator  from  that  State 
[Mr.  Wolcott].  He  told  me  that  although  the  Federal  officers  did 
not  interfere  with  local  elections,  yet  every  citizen  of  Denver 
felt  humiliated  to  see  supervising  officers  placed  over  them.  That 
humiliation  will  become  a  reality  if  this  bill,  with  the  unlimited 
appropriation  and  the  unlimited  army  of  assistants  to  supervise 
and  control  elections  therein  provided  for,  is  oassed. 

I  say  we  have  no  right  in  the  exercise  of  the  power  conferred 
by  this  clause  in  the  Constitution  to  go  beyond  the  letter  and 
spirit  by  any  indirection,  by  passing  legislation  that  interferes 
with  any  power  reserved  to  the  States. 

At  the  proper  time  I  shall  make  a  motion  to  recommit  this 
bill  and  to  confine  its  operation  to  constitutional  limits. 

On  January  20  Senator  Aldrich  moved  to  take  up  a 
resolution,  previously  introduced  by  him,  amending  the 
rules  of  the  Senate  so  as  to  cut  off  debate  at  the  will  of 
the  remainder  of  that  session.  The  object  of  Mr.  Aid- 
trie  majority,  the  amended  rule  to  continue  only  during 
jt'ich  and  his  associates,  who  were  in  favor  of  the  Force 
bill,  was  to  end  debate  so  that  a  majority  could  pass  the 
Force  bill  at  will. 

The  rule  was  debated  in  connection  with  the  Force 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         305 

bill  until  January  22,  when  it  was  side-tracked  by  the 
bill  making  an  apportionment  of  Representatives  in 
Congress  among  the  several  States.  This  was  a  very 
important  bill,  and  it  was  necessary  that  it  should  be 
passed  before  the  4th  of  March  in  order  to  provide  for 
the  following  fall  elections.  Mr.  Wolcott  had  charge 
of  the  bill. 

We  canvassed  the  Senate  thoroughly  and  ascertained 
that  we  would  have  a  majority  to  take  it  up  on  Janu 
ary  22. 

There  were  just  enough  Senators  paired  with  those 
in  favor  of  taking  up  the  Apportionment  bill  to  carry 
it  by  one  majority  without  the  vote  of  Senator  Stanford, 
and  by  two  majority  with  his  vote.  Senator  Stanford 
had  gone  to  New  York,  and  a  violent  snow,  hail,  and 
rain-storm  had  cut  off  telegraphic  communication  be 
tween  that  city  and  Washington.  However,  before 
Senator  Stanford  left,  in  anticipation  of  the  necessity 
of  his  vote,  I  called  at  his  house  and  he  told  me  I  might 
pair  him  in  favor  of  taking  up  the  Apportionment  bill 
at  any  time. 

On  January  22,  according  to  our  understanding,  Sen 
ator  Wolcott  moved  to  take  up  the  Apportionment  bill, 
and  demanded  the  yeas  and  nays.  The  various  pairs 
were  stated  and  arranged  except  that  of  Senator  Stan 
ford.  I  contended  that  he  was  in  favor  of  taking  up  the 
Apportionment  bill,  and  emphatically  denied  the  right 
of  any  Senator  to  pair  him  against  me.  There  the 
matter  rested,  and  the  Senator  from  California  was  not 
paired. 

The  Apportionment  bill,  when  the  vote  was 
announced,  was  taken  up  by  35  to  34.  The  Senate  then 
proceeded  to  the  consideration  of  the  bill,  which 
required  considerable  time.  It  was  conceded  both  by 
the  friends  and  foes  of  the  Force  bill  that  it  was  too 
late  in  the  session  to  consider  it,  in  view  of  the  Appor 
tionment  bill  and  appropriation  bills  then  pending. 
20 


306         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

On  the  afternoon  of  that  day  I  happened  to  be  in 
the  cloakroom,  and  heard  one  of  the  colored  messengers 
remark  that  Senator  Aldrich  was  going  to  New  York 
that  night.  The  train  for  New  York  was  to  leave  at 
five  o'clock,  and  I  determined  to  make  the  trip  myself. 
I  took  it  for  granted  that  his  journey  on  that  night 
was  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  vote  of  Senator 
Stanford  to  resume  the  consideration  of  the  Force 
bill. 

I  went  to  the  Senate  restaurant  to  take  lunch  before 
leaving,  and  there  met  Senator  Aldrich.  I  told  him  I 
would  accompany  him  to  New  York  on  the  pleasure  trip 
he  was  about  to  take.  He  looked  a  little  surprised,  but 
said  nothing.  We  were  in  the  same  car  most  of  the 
way,  but  after  we  had  passed  Philadelphia  I  went  into 
another  car  to  secure  an  opportunity  to  have  a  private 
conversation  with  the  baggage-man  as  he  would  come, 
through  the  train ;  and,  as  I  expected,  the  man  who  col 
lected  baggage  appeared  as  usual  about  half  way 
between  Philadelphia  and  New  York. 

I  told  him  that  I  was  extremely  anxious  to  make  the 
quickest  trip  ever  made  from  the  landing  of  the  ferry 
boat  to  the  Windsor  Hotel,  and  asked  if  he  could  secure 
a  fast  and  light  double  team  for  that  purpose.  He  said 
he  did  not  know.  I  gave  him  five  dollars  and  told  him 
I  wanted  him  to  know.  Then  he  said  that  he  thought 
he  could,  and  that  he  would  have  the  team  ready  by  the 
time  I  reached  the  ferry  slip. 

It  was  then  between  eleven  and  twelve  o'clock  and  a 
very  unpleasant  night. 

The  baggage-man  had  the  team  ready,  and  I  had  ten 
dollars  ready  for  the  driver,  which  I  handed  to  him  with 
the  understanding  that  he  would  let  the  horses  run 
wherever  they  could.  The  streets  were  clear  of  vehicles, 
but  there  was  some  snow  and  sleet  upon  them.  The 
horses  ran  most  of  the  way,  and  reached  the  Windsor 
Hotel  in  pretty  quick  time.  I  inquired  for  Senator 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         307 

Stanford's  room,  and  gave  a  boy  a  quarter  to  take 
me  there  immediately. 

When  I  arrived  Mrs.  Stanford  was  in  the  parlor  of 
the  suite  of  rooms  which  she  and  the  Senator  occupied. 
I  told  her  my  business,  and  said  that  according  to  the 
understanding  with  the  Senator,  which,  by  the  way,  was 
agreed  to  when  she  was  present,  I  would  not  allow  him 
to  be  paired  in  favor  of  the  Force  bill. 

She  said  the  Senator  had  met  with  a  severe  accident, 
having  been  thrown  from  a  hansom  in  the  afternoon  of 
that  day  and  quite  severely  bruised,  and  that  it  was 
unnecessary  to  disturb  him,  as  she  could  attend  to  the 
business  as  well  as  he  could.  She  said  she  knew  what  his 
views  were  and  would  make  them  known. 

She  called  the  Senator's  secretary,  and  asked  him  for 
the  dispatch  which  he  had  written  to  send  as  soon  as  the 
wires  were  again  up  between  New  York  and  Wash 
ington.  It  was  directed  to  me,  and  read: 

Pair  me  against  the  Force  bill  and  all  matters  connected 
therewith. 

(Signed)  LELAND  STANFORD. 

I  asked  the  secretary  to  go  down  stairs  with  me,  and 
as  we  reached  the  office  floor  we  met  Senator  Aldrich 
at  the  elevator  on  his  way  to  visit  Senator  Stanford.  I 
told  him  he  was  too  late,  and  the  clerk  showed  him 
the  dispatch.  He  turned  away,  and  there  the  matter 
dropped,  and  thus  the  Force  bill  was  defeated,  never 
again  to  be  revived.  After  that  it  was  never  indorsed 
by  the  Republican  party  of  the  nation  or  of  any  State. 

Happily,  there  are  many  questions  affecting  the  whole 
country  which  bring  the  people  of  the  North  and  South 
together  in  common  cause.  The  nation  is  a  unit 
whenever  anything  affecting  the  flag  takes  place  in  any 
part  of  the  world.  The  Spanish-American  war  brought 
the  people  together  in  a  manner  which  fosters  fraternal 
feeling  and  affection  for  a  common  country. 


308         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

In  1888  the  last  effort  was  made  to  discriminate 
against  soldiers  of  the  late  Confederacy  in  appointment 
to  Federal  offices  on  account  of  participation  in  the 
rebellion.  L.  Q.  C.  Lamar  was  nominated  by  President 
Cleveland  as  Associate  Justice  to  the  Supreme  Court 
of  the  United  States. 

The  Judiciary  Committee  found  him  otherwise 
qualified,  but  reported  that  his  participation  in  the 
rebellion  ought  to  prevent  his  confirmation.  I  then 
thought,  and  the  people  now  think,  that  when  the 
"question"  was  settled,  the  States  restored,  and  amnesty 
granted,  all  persons  in  the  Confederate  States  who 
accepted  in  good  faith  the  conditions  prescribed  for 
restoration  were  entitled,  other  things  being  equal,  to 
hold  any  office  to  which  any  citizen  of  the  United  States 
is  eligible. 

The  question  was  discussed  by  the  public  press  and 
no  objection  was  raised  to  the  confirmation  except  that 
Mr.  Lamar  had  borne  arms  against  the  United  States. 

It  was  known  that  I  was  in  favor  of  his  confirmation ; 
a  flood  of  letters  and  petitions  poured  upon  me,  none  of 
which  questioned  Mr.  Lamar's  fitness  for  the  office, 
except  the  fact  that  he  had  borne  arms  against  the 
Government.  I  was  so  importuned  that  I  was  con 
strained  to  publish  a  letter  explanatory  of  my  position. 
In  it  I  gave  a  full  history  of  the  thoroughly  patriotic 
course  pursued  by  Mr.  Lamar  after  he  accepted  the 
conditions  imposed  by  the  United  States  for  the  restora 
tion  of  the  several  States,  and  received  the  amnesty  of 
the  Government  by  a  vote  of  two-thirds  of  each  House 
of  Congress.  His  record  was  conspicuous  among  the 
leaders  of  the  South  who  advised  the  people  to  let 
by-gones  be  by-gones  and  unite  cordially  with  the  people 
of  the  North  in  every  policy  and  enterprise  which  would 
be  beneficial  to  the  country  at  large. 

The  facts  stated  in  that  letter,  together  with  the 
report  of  the  Judiciary  Committee,  removed  every 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         309 

objection  to  the  confirmation  which  the  Senate  could 
possibly  consider. 

The  rejection  of  Mr.  Lamar  would  have  been  a  direct 
precedent  for  the  rejection  for  any  Federal  office  of 
every  man  in  the  South  who  had  participated  in  the 
rebellion. 

The  contest  was  a  bitter  one,  and  the  Senate  was 
very  evenly  divided.  It  required  two  votes  from  the 
Republican  side  to  secure  the  confirmation.  I  consulted 
with  Senator  Stanford  of  California  at  his  house,  with 
regard  to  the  matter.  We  discussed  it  in  all  its  bearings, 
and  when  I  left  his  room  he  assured  me  that  he  would 
vote  with  me  for  the  confirmation  of  Mr.  Lamar.  Mr. 
Stanford  did  so,  Mr.  Lamar  was  confirmed;  and  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States  was  saved  from  the  disgrace 
of  granting  amnesty  and  then  withdrawing  it;  and  of 
pledging  equality  of  civil  and  political  rights  and  after 
ward  violating  that  pledge. 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

Harrison's  infidelity  to  pledges — His  capacity  to  repel  both  friends 
and  foes — Cleveland's  panic — The  fall  of  Congress  into  the  arms 
of  the  gold  trust— My  protest  against  the  Gladstone-Cleve 
land  bondholding  combination. 

Benjamin  Harrison  was  a  unique  character.  He  was 
gifted  beyond  comparison  with  a  capacity  to  be  disagree 
able.  He  never  either  refused  or  granted  a  favor  during 
the  time  he  acted  as  President  that  he  did  not  give 
offense.  He  was  so  impartial  in  the  distribution  of  his 
disagreeableness  that  when  a  Senator  entered  the  cloak 
room  of  the  Senate  his  associates  could  tell  by  his 
excited  and  disgusted  manner  if  he  had  visited  the  White 
House  that  day. 

His  repudiation  of  his  pledges,  and  the  platform  of 
his  party,  on  the  question  of  silver,  naturally  enraged 
the  advocates  of  honest  money.  His  attempt  to  pass 
the  Force  bill  through  Congress  aroused  the  whole 
country,  and  particularly  the  South,  where  the  colored 
population  was  to  be  forced  into  power  by  a  partisan 
President. 

He  had  no  difficulty  in  securing  the  delegates  to  the 
National  Convention  of  the  Republican  party  held  at 
Minneapolis  in  June,  1892.  The  gold  standard  con- 
tractionists  were  powerful  enough  in  the  Republican 
States  of  the  North  and  East  to  reward  their  faithful 
servant. 

He  was  repaid  for  his  efforts  to  place  the  South 
under  negro  control  by  solid  colored  delegations  from 
nearly  every  State  in  the  South.  I  knew  his  nomination 
was  inevitable.  My  State  offered  to  elect  me  a  delegate 
to  the  Convention.  I  declined  to  accept,  or  to  go  to 
Minneapolis  to  be  a  witness  to  the  nomination  of  such 
a  man  as  Benjamin  Harrison. 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         311 

Nevada  led  off  by  organizing  a  silver  party  which 
cooperated  with  the  Populist  party  and  the  silver  men 
of  the  Mountain  States.  This  vote  went  to  James 
Weaver,  the  candidate  of  the  Populist  party,  and  secured 
for  him  five  States. 

The  gold  trust  made  an  active  campaign  to  nominate 
Grover  Cleveland  for  a  second  term  in  1892.  The 
South  was  so  exasperated  against  Harrison  for  his 
attempt,  as  they  termed  it,  to  secure  negro  domination 
in  the  late  Confederate  States,  that  the  delegates  from 
that  section  were  inclined  to  look  favorably  upon  the 
nomination  of  Cleveland. 

The  managers  of  the  gold  trust  prepared  a  platform 
for  him  on  the  silver  question,  which  they  contended, 
and  which  the  Democratic  press  of  the  country  con 
tended,  was  so  plain  a  proposition  in  favor  of 
bi-metalism  that  Cleveland  would  be  bound  to  obey  it. 
It  was  a  cunning  device  and  read  as  follows: 

We  hold  to  the  use  of  both  gold  and  silver  as  the  standard 
money  of  .the  country,  and  to  the  coinage  of  both  gold  and  silver 
without  discrimination  against  either  metal  or  charge  for  mintage, 
but  the  dollar  unit  of  coinage  of  both  metals  must  be  of  equal  in 
trinsic  and  exchangeable  value  or  be  adjusted  through  international 
agreement,  or  by  such  safeguards  of  legislation  as  shall  insure  the 
maintenance  of  the  parity  of  the  two  metals  and  the  equal  power 
of  every  dollar  at  all  times  in  the  markets  and  in  the  payment 
of  all  debts. 

The  contest  in  the  campaign  of  1892  was  three- 
cornered  between  Harrison,  Cleveland,  and  Weaver. 
The  Populist  party  had  its  stronghold  in  the  South  and 
West,  which,  other  things  being  equal,  would  have  cast 
their  vote  for  Weaver.  But  the  Populist  party  of  the 
South,  dreading  the  possibility  of  the  reelection  of 
Harrison,  and  believing  that  he  would  renew  his  efforts 
for  negro  supremacy,  joined  the  gold  trust  of  the  North 
in  favor  of  Cleveland. 


312         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

Harrison  having  fewer  personal  friends  and  sup 
porters  than  any  man  who  ever  occupied  the  White 
House,  was  very  strong  in  the  slow  race,  and  Cleveland 
received  an  overwhelming  majority  against  his  unpopu 
lar  opponent. 

In  the  session  of  Parliament  previous  to  the  inaugura 
tion  of  Mr.  Cleveland  there  was  a  strong  effort  to 
demonetize  silver,  when  Prime  Minister  Gladstone, 
among  other  things,  said: 

I  suppose  there  is  not  a  year  passes  over  our  heads  which  does 
not  largely  add  to  the  mass  of  British  investments  abroad.  I  am 
almost  afraid  to  estimate  the  total  amount  of  property  which  the 
United  Kingdom  holds  beyond  the  limits  of  the  Unite4  Kingdom, 
but  of  this  I  am  well  convinced,  that  it  is  not  to  be  counted  by 
tens  of  hundreds  of  millions  [pounds]. 

One  thousand  millions  [$5,000,000,000]  would  probably  be  an 
extremely  low  and  inadequate  estimate.  Two  thousand  millions 
[$10,000,000,000],  or  something  even  more  than  that,  is  very  likely 
to  be  nearer  the  mark. 

I  think  under  these  circumstances  it  is  rather  a  serious  matter 
to  ask  this  country  whether  we  are  going  to  perform  this  supreme 
act  of  self-sacrifice. 

I  have  a  profound  admiration  for  cosmopolitan  principles.  I 
can  go  a  great  length  in  moderation  [laughter]  in  recommending 
their  recognition  and  establishment;  but  if  there  are  these  two 
thousand  millions  [$10,000,000,000]  or  fifteen  hundred  millions 
[$7,500,000,000]  of  money  which  we  have  got  abroad,  it  is  a  very 
serious  matter  as  between  this  country  and  other  countries. 

We  have  nothing  to  pay  them ;  we  are  not  debtors  at  all ;  we 
should  get  no  comfort,  no  consolation  out  of  the  substitution  of  an 
inferior  material,  of  a  cheaper  money,  which  we  could  obtain  for 
less  and  part  with  for  more.  We  should  get  no  consolation,  but 
the  consolation  throughout  the  world  would  be  great. 

This  splendid  spirit  of  philanthropy,  which  we  cannot  too  highly 
praise — because  I  have  no  doubt  all  this  is  foreseen — would  result 
in  our  making  a  present  of  fifty  or  a  hundred  millions  [$500,000,000] 
to  the  world.  It  would  be  thankfully  received,  but  I  think  the 
gratitude  for  our  benevolence  would  be  mixed  with  very  grave 
misgivings  as  to  our  wisdom. 

Mr.  Cleveland  fully  concurred  with  Mr.  Gladstone, 
and  contended  that  the  American  people  ought  to  coin 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         313 

no  more  silver,  and  that  they  should  pay  the  bonded 
debt  of  the  United  States  and  all  other  debts  of  the 
States  and  the  people  in  gold  alone;  notwithstanding 
that  the  United  States  never  agreed  to  pay  gold,  but 
agreed  to  pay  coin,  of  gold  or  silver,  of  the  standard 
value  at  the  time  the  funding  bill  was  passed  July  14, 
1870. 

In  obedience  to  the  demands  of  the  bondholders 
everywhere,  Mr.  Cleveland  deliberately  proceeded  to 
create  the  panic  of  1893  after  his  inauguration.  But 
before  he  got  the  panic  fully  under  way  he  invited  the 
leading  Democrats  of  the  United  States  to  a  grand  feast 
at  the  White  House,  and  then  and  there  took  occasion 
to  show  contempt  for  all  Democrats  who  advocated 
free  coinage,  placing  in  charge  of  the  feast  only  disciples 
of  the  gold  trust,  which  created  much  feeling. 

The  leading  bankers  of  New  York,  cooperating  with 
Mr.  Cleveland's  Secretary  of  the  Treasury,  John  G. 
Carlisle,  refused  to  extend  loans  or  to  allow  the  banks 
of  the  West  their  usual  accommodations.  The  stringency 
occasioned  was  known  at  the  time  as  the  "bankers' 
squeeze,"  and  had  its  effect.  The  banks  of  the  interior 
commenced  to  fail.  These  failures  brought  on  the  most 
disastrous  panic  the  country  has  ever  seen. 

New  York  banks,  in  the  confidence  of  the  Treasury 
Department,  violated  the  law  under  which  they  were 
created  and  refused  to  pay  either  drafts  or  checks  drawn 
on  them  except  in  their  own  certificates  of  deposit.  They 
issued  in  violation  of  law  over  forty  millions  of  certifi 
cates  which  the  people  were  compelled  to  take  in  lieu  of 
money,  and  thus  the  syndicate  banks  lost  nothing  by 
the  panic,  but  made  enormous  gains  by  creating  money 
without  authority  of  law. 

When  distress  became  general  and  the  great  mass 
of  enterprising  men  of  the  United  States  were  being 
destroyed  Cleveland,  on  June  30,  1893,  issued  a 
proclamation  convening  an  extra  session  of  Congress 


314         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

to  assemble  on  August  7  following,  to  repeal  the  silver 
purchasing  clause  of  the  Sherman  Act.  This  message 
was  well  calculated  to  increase  the  panic  by  intensifying 
the  distrust  which  had  already  been  created  by  the 
bankers'  squeeze  which  the  conspiracy  organized. 

The  first  two  paragraphs  of  the  proclamation  read 
as  follows: 

Whereas,  the  distrust  and  apprehension  concerning  the  financial 
situation  which  pervade  all  business  circles  have  already  caused 
great  loss  and  damage  to  our  people,  and  threaten  to  cripple  our 
merchants,  stop  the  wheels  of  manufacture,  bring  distress  and 
privation  to  our  farmers,  and  withhold  from  our  working  men  the 
wage  of  labor; 

And  whereas,  the  present  perilous  condition  is  largely  the  result 
of  a  financial  policy  which  the  Executive  branch  of  the  Government 
finds  embodied  in  unwise  laws  which  must  be  executed  until 
repealed  by  Congress:  [Meaning  the  purchasing  clause  of  the 
Sherman  Act.] 

Such  a  proclamation  at  such  a  time  was  like  an  alarm 
bell  in  a  heavy  fog  on  a  rocky  coast.  The  scramble  of 
the  people  of  the  United  States  to  save  themselves  from 
financial  ruin,  the  approach  of  which  was  proclaimed  by 
the  Chief  Executive,  was  very  like  the  frantic  disorder 
of  the  passengers  on  a  ship  when  warned  of  approaching 
danger.  The  proclamation  created  a  storm  of  distrust, 
and  every  man  not  in  the  conspiracy  struggled  to  hold 
on  to  some  portion  of  the  financial  wreck  to  save  himself 
from  utter  destruction,  which  was  the  common  fate 
of  the  mass  of  business  men. 

When  Congress  assembled  on  the  yth  of  August, 
1893,  it  required  three  months  of  manipulation  by 
Cleveland  and  other  emissaries  of  "frenzied  finance, " 
many  of  whom  have  figured  in  the  recent  investigation 
of  life  insurance  companies,  to  subject  Congress  to  the 
will  of  the  gold  trust. 

Tt  required  about  a  month  to  subdue  the  House  of 
Representatives,  and  three  months  to  persuade  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         315 

majority  of  the  Senate  to  do  what  everybody  ought  to 
have  known  was  wrong. 

I  will  not  allude  to  individuals,  for  it  would  be 
unkind,  and  might  be  unjust,  because  the  pressure  was 
too  great  for  an  ordinary  Senator  to  withstand. 

I  struggled  against  the  Gladstone-Cleveland  combina 
tion  until  a  clear  majority  was  secured  for  the  gold 
trust.  I  took  the  floor  at  all  times  to  prevent  the 
consummation  of  the  wrong,  when  no  one  else  would 
occupy  it.  The  Congressional  Record  contains  between 
two  hundred  and  two  hundred  and  fifty  pages  of  my 
speeches  during  that  contest. 

I  closed  the  debate,  when  the  vote  was  about  to  be 
taken,  and  protested  in  as  strong  language  as  I  could 
command  against  the  consummation  of  the  great  wrong. 
But  Cleveland,  life  insurance  manipulators,  Shylocks 
and  bond-dealers  were  too  strong  to  be  resisted  by  the 
Senate  of  the  United  States,  and  the  people  suffered  the 
consequence. 


CHAPTER   XXXV 

The  money  question — Adherence  to  principle  regardless  of  party — 
Supply  of  money  a  necessity,  enormous  output  of  gold  furnished 
.that  supply — Conversion  of  my  critics  to  the  views  I  advocated 
in  1900 — No  more  office  for  me. 

The  depreciation  of  silver  as  compared  with  gold 
during  the  twelve  years  from  March,  1875,  to  March, 
1887,  was  a  great  calamity  to  the  people  of  my  State, 
and  more  injurious  to  the  people  of  the  civilized  world 
than  famine,  pestilence,  and  war  combined. 

The  412^  grains  of  silver  which  composed  a  silver 
dollar  had  been  for  hundreds  of  years  worth  little  more 
than  23.8  grains  of  standard  gold,  which  composed  the 
Ngold  dollar,  and  my  investigation  satisfied  me  that  there 
was  nothing  in  the  relative  production  of  the  two  metals 
which  changed  their  relative  market  values. 

From  the  discovery  of  gold  until  the  beginning  of 
the  last  century,  Von  Humboldt  estimated  that  there 
were  over  forty  ounces  of  silver  produced  for  every 
ounce  of  gold,  which  would  have  made  the  ratio  of 
value,  according  to  the  production  for  that  period,  over 
40  to  i,  which  was  not  the  case. 

On  the  contrary,  an  ounce  of  gold  would  at  no  time 
during  that  period  buy  more  than  15^  ounces  of 
silver.  From  1800  to  1850  about  thirty  ounces  of  silver 
were  produced  for  each  ounce  of  gold.  Still,  their 
relative  prices  remained  the  same.  From  1850  to  1873, 
when  the  frenzied  financiers  of  that  day  excluded  silver 
from  the  mints  of  the  United  States,  only  six  ounces  of 
silver  were  produced  for  one  ounce  of  gold;  still,  an 
ounce  of  gold  would  buy  in  the  world's  market  15/^2 
ounces  of  silver. 

After  much  investigation  I  realized  that  it  was  legis 
lation,  and  not  production,  which  had  depreciated  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         317 

price  of  silver  as  compared  with  gold;  for  so  long  as  a 
certain  quantity  of  silver  and  another  certain  quantity 
of  gold  could  each  be  taken  to  the  mint  and  coined  into 
the  same  amount  of  money  without  cost,  it  was  evident 
that  that  certain  amount  of  silver  and  that  certain 
amount  of  gold  would  be  equal  to  each  other  in  value 
according  to  the  axiom  in  mathematics  that  things  equal 
to  the  same  thing  are  equal  to  each  other. 

On  examining  the  legislation  of  Congress  I  found  that 
the  silver  dollar  had  been  omitted  from  the  list  of  coins 
in  the  Mint  Act  of  1873,  and  a  trade  dollar  containing 
about  420  grains  of  standard  silver  for  use  in  the  Orient 
to  compete  with  the  Mexican  dollar,  with  legal-tender 
power  of  only  $5  in  the  United  States,  had  been  substi 
tuted  for  the  dollar  of  the  fathers. 

Although  I  was  a  member  of  the  Senate  at  the  time 
this  legislation  took  place,  I  had  no  knowledge  of  the 
change,  but  continued  to  suppose  that  the  dollar  of 
Jefferson  and  Hamilton  was  still  recognized  by  the 
mint  laws,  and  in  a  speech  in  favor  of  specie  resumption 
I  declared  myself  in  favor  of  gold,  meaning  specie,  in 
one  or  two  sentences  of  my  speech;  but  the  context  of 
the  speech  shows  that  I  had  no  idea  of  advocating  gold 
as  distinguished  from  silver. 

This  speech  became  the  stock  in  trade  of  Sherman 
and  every  frenzied  financier  who  manipulated  insurance 
companies  or  was  engaged  in  kindred  rascality.  I  was 
compelled  in  self-defense  to  investigate  and  expose  the 
manner  of  the  demonetization  of  silver  and  the  tricks 
employed  for  that  purpose,  all  of  which  will  be  found 
at  length  in  the  Congressional  Record.  The  outrage  of 
discontinuing  the  use  of  silver  when  there  was  not 
enough  of  both  gold  and  silver  for  use  as  money  made  a, 
deep  impression  upon  the  people,  and  the  managers  of. 
the  scheme  to  enhance  the  value  of  money  and  bonds, 
and  depreciate  the  value  of  property  and  wages,  found 
it  necessary  to  pretend  they  were  in  favor  of  restoring 


318         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

silver.  The  Republican  party  vied  with  the  Democratic 
party  in  various  pretenses  that  they  were  in  favor  of  the 
rehabilitation  of  silver.  Times  went  from  bad  to  worse. 

After  my  experience  with  Harrison's  Administration 
I  found  it  would  be  impossible  for  me  to  further  indorse 
the  Republican  party  without  indorsing  the  crime  of 
John  Sherman  in  demonetizing  silver. 

When  it  became  evident  that  Benjamin  Harrison 
would  be  nominated  his  own  successor  in  1892,  I  severed 
my  connection  with  the  Republican  party  and  joined 
my  fellow-citizens  of  Nevada  in  the  organization  of  a 
silver  party,  to  which  I  adhered  until  the  silver  question 
was  disposed  of  by  a  sudden  and  unexpected  output  of 
gold.  The  general  prosperity  which  a  thousand  millions 
of  new  gold  in  the  short  period  of  four  years  had  pro 
duced  made  further  agitation  of  the  silver  question  in 
the  campaign  of  1900  not  only  unnecessary,  but  useless. 

The  silver  question  having  been  eliminated  from 
politics  for  the  time  being  at  least,  I  frankly  told  the 
people  of  my  State  the  honest  truth,  which  they  all  now 
believe.  I  told  them  the  output  of  gold  had  buried 
the  silver  party,  and  that  the  adherents  to  that  organiza 
tion  were  at  liberty  to  align  themselves  politically  as 
they  thought  proper.  For  all  of  which  I  was  criticised 
by  a  portion  of  the  public  press. 

I  have  no  harsh  words  for  those  who  criticised  me  on 
account  of  their  financial  necessities,  or  because  of  their 
ignorance  of  the  conditions,  or  because  of  their  unreason 
able  faith  in  the  speeches  that  William  J.  Bryan  made 
in  Nevada.  It  is  possible  they  did  not  observe  the 
fact  that  Bryan's  silver  speeches  in  Nevada  were  not 
heard  outside  of  the  battle-born  State,  or  that  there  was 
no  party  in  any  other  State  favoring  the  remonetization 
of  silver. 

They  should,  however,  have  known  that  Mr.  Bryan 
could  not  remonetize  silver  with  Nevada  alone.  They 
must  have  realized  in  the  campaign  of  1904,  when  they 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         319 

supported  only  gold-standard  candidates  for  the  Presi 
dency,  that  their  effort  to  remonetize  silver  through  the 
silver  party  of  Nevada  in  1902  without  the  aid  of  other 
States  was  a  mistake. 

I  have  no  apprehension  that  they  will  criticise  me  for 
doing  what  they  have  done  themselves,  or  for  finding 
out  that  the  output  had  buried  the  silver  question  before 
they  did. 

I  am  deeply  attached  to  Nevada.  It  has  been  my 
home  for  more  than  forty-six  years  at  the  time  of  this 
writing,  and  I  am  deeply  grateful  to  the  people  for  their 
many  acts  of  kindness.  While  I  live  I  shall  do  all  I 
can  to  promote  the  interests  of  my  State,  but  shall  never 
accept  reelection  to  the  Senate  of  the  United  States  or 
other  important  office. 

After  the  silver  question  was  eliminated  from  politics, 
having  been  a  Republican  from  the  organization  of  that 
party,  I  returned  to  my  natural  allegiance,  and  entered 
upon  the  campaign  with  the  Republican  party  in  1900. 

My  Republican  associates  in  the  Senate  understood 
that  I  severed  my  relations  with  the  Republican  party 
on  the  silver  question,  and  that  my  position  on  that 
question  was  unchanged.  They  restored  to  me  positions 
on  committees  which  were  reserved  for  the  dominant 
party.  Among  other  things,  they  made  me  chairman  of 
the  Committee  on  Indian  Affairs,  one  of  the  leading 
committees  of  the  Senate. 

While  I  believe  that  organization  is  necessary,  and 
that  there  should  be  several  political  parties  in  the  gov 
ernment  of  the  country,  I  have  never  allowed  the  party 
lash  to  force  me  to  violate  my  conscience,  in  or  out  of 
office. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

Cleveland's  bond  speculations  and  Venezuela  deal — His  repudia 
tion  by  the  Democratic  Convention  of  1896 — The  nomination 
of  Bryan  on  a  free-coinage  platform — His  brilliant  campaign 
and  defeat  by  lavish  use  of  money  by  the  gold  trust — Bryan's 
mistake  in  advocating  silver  money  after  the  enormous  out 
put  of  gold  made  money  plenty. 

Grover  Cleveland's  second  administration  was  an 
object-lesson.  It  was  probably  the  worst  administration 
that  ever  occurred  in  this  or  any  other  civilized  country^ 
A  few  more  examples  of  the  unparalleled  audacity  and 
greed  of  Cleveland  and  his  cohorts  will  be  sufficient  to 
satisfy  thinking  men  that  Cleveland  was  the  boldest  man 
the  country  ever  produced. 

The  United  States  four  per  cent,  bonds,  commonly 
called  four-thirties,  because  they  drew  four  per  cent, 
interest  and  had  thirty  years  to  run,  had  not  sold  in  the 
market  for  twenty  years  for  less  than  one  per  cent, 
premium  for  every  year  they  had  to  run.  The  four- 
thirties  then  outstanding,  having  about  thirteen  years  to 
run,  were  selling  at  from  14  to  15  per  cent,  premium. 

Without  giving  the  people  a  chance  to  purchase 
bonds,  he  sold  to  private  parties  sixty-two  millions  of 
four-thirty  bonds  at  4^2  per  cent,  premium,  which  if 
they  had  been  sold  at  the  market  value  would  have 
brought  thirty  per  cent,  premium.  He  attempted  to  sell 
another  one  hundred  million  at  the  same  rate,  but 
financiers  resented  the  favoritism  to  the  parties  having 
purchased  the  sixty-two  millions,  and  the  matter  was 
compromised  among  them  by  a  pretense  of  a  sale  to  the 
public.  It  was  only  a  pretense,  however.  The  combina 
tion  syndicate  secured  nearly  all  of  the  one  hundred 
million  bonds  at  an  average  of  eleven  per  cent,  premium. 

It  required  several  months  to  arrange  matters  before 
the  one  hundred  and  sixty-two  millions  could  be  put  upon 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         321 

the  market.  When  this  was  done,  however,  the  bonds 
sold  from  29  to  30  per  cent,  premium;  and  to-day, 
notwithstanding  more  than  one-third  of  the  time  before 
their  maturity  has  run,  they  are  selling  for  over  30  per 
cent,  premium. 

Making  all  liberal  allowances  for  commissions  and 
expenses  of  every  kind,  somebody  made  thirty  millions 
at  least  by  Cleveland's  bold  and  unscrupulous  stock 
jobbing. 

It  may  be  asked  why  Mr.  Cleveland  was  permitted  to 
do  this.  The  answer  is  easy,  and  is  furnished  by  a 
question  or  two.  How  did  Rockefeller  acquire  a  thou 
sand  millions  of  money?  How  has  J.  Pierpont  Morgan 
obtained  what  millions  of  the  toiling  masses  produced? 
How  has  the  money  of  the  life  insurance  companies  been 
used  to  build  up  colossal  fortunes? 

The  Venezuela  job  was  the  grandest  scheme  on 
record.  Before  it  was  consummated  I  received  reliable 
information  that  our  Minister  to  England,  Mr.  Bayard, 
would  convey  a  belligerent  message  from  Mr.  Cleveland 
to  Lord  Salisbury,  and  that  if  he  could  obtain  permission 
from  the  Prime  Minister  of  England  to  send  that 
message  officially,  and  not  give  offense,  he  would  inau 
gurate  a  diplomatic  war  for  the  purpose  of  diverting  , 
the  attention  of  the  people  from  the  silver  question. 

At  that  time  I  was  editing  a  paper  called  The  Silver 
Knight,  published  in  Washington.  I  prepared  an 
"interview"  of  what  seemed  to  me  would  take  place  on 
the  presentation  of  Mr.  Cleveland's  private  message  to 
Lord  Salisbury  by  Minister  Bayard.  I  had  the  parties 
participating  in  that  interview  caricatured;  all  of  which 
I  published  in  The  Silver  Knight  of  November  7,  1895. 
On  the  i  yth  of  December  Cleveland  inaugurated  the 
diplomatic  war.  He  sent  a  message  to  Congress,  pro 
posing  to  fix  the  boundary  between  Venezuela  and 
British  Guiana,  without  consulting  either  Venezuela  or 
Great  Britain,  and  to  compel  the  British  Empire  to 


322         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

accept  the  same,  either  with  or  without  war  with  the 
United  States.  No  more  threatening  document  was 
ever  issued  by  the  United  States  against  any  country, 
weak  or  strong.  The  concluding  paragraphs  of  this 
special  message  to  Congress  read  as  follows  :* 

Assuming,  however,  that  the  attitude  of  Venezuela  will  re 
main  unchanged,  the  dispute  has  reached  such  a  stage  as  to  make  it 
now  incumbent  upon  the  United  States  to  take  measures  to 
determine  with  sufficient  certainty  for  its  justification  what  is  the 
true  divisional  line  between  the  Republic  of  Venezuela  and  British 
Guiana.  The  inquiry  to  that  end  should  of  course  be  conducted 
carefully  and  judicially,  and  due  weight  should  be  given  to  all 
available  evidence,  records,  and  facts  in  support  of  the  claims  of 
both  parties. 

In  order  that  such  an  examination  should  be  prosecuted  in  a 
thorough  and  satisfactory  manner,  I  suggest  that  the  Congress  make 
an  adequate  appropriation  for  the  expenses  of  a  commission,  to  be 
appointed  by  the  Executive,  who  will  make  the  necessary  investiga 
tion  and  report  upon  the  matter  with  the  least  possible  delay. 
When  such  report  is  made  and  accepted,  it  will,  in  my  opinion,  be 
the  duty  of  the  United  States  to  resist  by  every  means  in  its  power, 
as  a  willful  aggression  upon  its  rights  and  interests,  the  appro 
priation  by  Great  Britain  of  any  lands  or  the  exercise  of  govern 
mental  jurisdiction  over  any  territory  which  after  investigation 
we  have  determined  of  right  belongs  to  Venezuela. 

In  making  these  recommendations  _I  am  fully  alive  to  the 
responsibility  incurred  and  keenly  realize  all  the  consequences  that 
may  follow. 

I  am,  nevertheless,  firm  in  my  conviction  that  while  it  is  a 
grievous  thing  to  contemplate  the  two  great  English  speaking  peo 
ples  of  the  world  as  being  otherwise  than  friendly  competitors  in 
the  onward  march  of  civilization  and  strenuous  and  worthy  rivals 
in  all  the  arts  of  peace,  there  is  no  calamity  ^vhich  a  great  nation 
can  invite  which  equals  that  which  follows  a  supine  submission 
to  wrong  and  injustice  and  the  consequent  loss  of  national  self- 
respect  and  honor,  beneath  which  are  shielded  and  defended  a 
people's  safety  and  greatness. 

The  uninitiated  supposed  this  message  meant  war, 
and  panic  followed.  Stocks  dropped  ten  to  twenty  per 

*Messages  and  Papers  of  Presidents,  1789-1897,  Vol.  9, 
pp.  655-658- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         323 

cent,  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic.  The  British  Lion 
did  not  even  growl.  Henry  Clews  reported  that  five 
hundred  millions  changed  hands. 

Cleveland  gave  his  friends  three  days  to  fill  their 
shorts,  which  they  did,  while  the  people  at  large  were 
greatly  agitated  over  the  war  cloud  which  the  message 
had  brought  over  the  country.  On  the  2Oth  of  Decem 
ber,  1895,  ne  sent  another  special  message  to  Congress 
in  which  he  assured  the  bond-holding  syndicates  of 
London  and  New  York  and  gold  contractionists  every 
where  that  the  Administration  was  doing,  and  would  do, 
everything  in  its  power  to  pay  all  indebtedness  in  gold, 
and  asking  Congress  to  cooperate.*  This  was  all  the 
apology  Great  Britain  required  for  the  warlike  message 
of  three  days  previous.  Lord  Salisbury's  administration 
was  fully  satisfied  with  both  the  insult  and  the  apology, 
and  no  word  of  complaint  came  from  the  other  side  of 
the  Atlantic. 

This  friendly  message  to  bondholders  closed  the 
incident.  The  knowing  ones  became  rich,  and  the 
uninitiated  lost  hundreds  of  millions  of  dollars. 

The  masses  of  the  Democratic  party  broke  loose  in 
1896  from  the  control  of  the  Cleveland  bondholders, 
and  met  in  convention  at  Chicago  and  denounced  the 
bond-dealing  administration  of  Grover  Cleveland  in 
their  platform  in  the  following  language: 

We  are  opposed  to  the  policy  and  practice  of  surrendering 
to  the  holders  of  the  obligations  of  the  United  States  the  option 
reserved  by  law  to  the  Government  of  redeeming  such  obligations 
in  either  silver  or  gold  coin. 

We  are  opposed  to  the  issuing  of  interest-bearing  bonds  of  the 
United  States  in  time  of  peace,  and  condemn  the  trafficking  with 
banking  syndicates  which,  in  exchange  for  bonds  and  at  an  enor 
mous  profit  to  themselves,  supply  the  Federal  Treasury  with  gold 
to  maintain  the  policy  of  gold  monometalism. 

The  Democrats  nominated  William  J.  Bryan  on  a 

*Special  Messages  and  Papers  of  Presidents,  1789-1897,  Vol.  9, 
p.  659. 


324         Reminiscences  of   William  M.   Stewart 

free-coinage  platform,  but  unfortunately  loaded  it  down 
with  an  attack  on  the  judiciary  and  other  outside  matters 
which  embarrassed  the  canvass. 

Bryan  made  a  campaign  of  energy  and  oratory  with 
out  a  parallel  in  American  politics.  The  manipulators 
of  finance  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  who  had 
impoverished  the  nations  by  falling  prices  and  doubled 
the  obligations  of  bonds  and  contracts  for  the  payment 
of  money,  became  alarmed  before  the  middle  of  Septem 
ber.  They  poured  out  their  money  like  water,  and 
counted  and  returned  in  the  pivotal  States  thousands, 
if  not  hundreds  of  thousands,  of  votes  beyond  the 
number  of  voters  then  existing;  and  although  Mr.  Bryan 
was  probably  elected,  the  returns  were  in  favor  of  Mr. 
McKinley. 

McKinley  did  all  in  his  power  to  make  matters  go  as 
smoothly  as  possible,  and  Providence  or  chance  favored 
his  efforts  to  have  a  popular  administration.  War  is 
always  popular,  and  the  Spanish  War  was  no  exception 
to  the  rule;  but  if  the  money  volume  had  continued  to 
shrink  and  prices  had  continued  to  fall,  the  money 
powers  would  have  been  overthrown  in  1900. 

Fortunately  for  McKinley  and  the  people  at  large, 
the  output  of  gold  increased  in  a  phenomenal  manner. 
Over  one  thousand  millions  of  new  gold  was  produced 
between  1896  and  1900.  This  new  gold  was  added 
to  the  volume  of  money  in  circulation,  and  caused  rising 
prices,  because  all  the  money  in  circulation  and  all  the 
property  for  sale  are  reciprocally  the  supply  and  demand 
of  each  other,  and  the  increase  of  money  produced  rising 
prices,  as  it  always  does. 

From  1896  to  1900  the  rise  in  prices  occasioned  by 
the  new  gold  stimulated  industry  and  created  good  times,, 
Then  came  the  fatal  mistake  of  William  J.  Bryan. 

He  had  hitherto  floated  on  the  tide  of  popularity. 
He  was  a  magnetic  orator,  and  his  theme  of  hard  times 
found  willing  ears  as  long  as  prices  were  falling  and 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         325 

times  were  going  from  bad  to  worse.  In  1900  he  was 
unwilling  to  accept  the  situation  and  claim,  as  he  right 
fully  might,  that  his  argument  had  been  vindicated,  that 
want  of  money  was  the  cause  of  universal  distress  and 
more  money  was  the  remedy.  When  the  remedy  came 
from  the  output  of  gold  he  should  have  claimed  a  vindi 
cation  of  his  theory.  One  of  two  things  must  be  said 
of  him — he  either  did  not  understand  the  money  ques 
tion  or  he  was  willing  to  deceive  the  people. 

If  he  had  understood  the  money  question  he  would 
have  known  that  more  gold  was  just  as  good  as  more 
silver,  and  that  it  was  neither  more  gold  nor  more  silver 
that  was  wanted,  but  more  money.  When  that  need  was 
supplied  it  was  idle  to  call  upon  the  country  to  supply 
a  want  where  none  existed. 

It  is  impossible  to  estimate  the  wrong  and  misery 
inflicted  upon  the  western  world  by  the  exclusion  of 
silver  from  the  mints.  At  the  time  of  the  passage,  or 
rather  the  smuggling  through,  of  the  Mint  Act  of  1873, 
the  output  of  both  silver  and  gold  was  not  adequate  to 
the  supply  of  the  legitimate  demand  for  money  metal. 
The  cutting  off  of  one-half  of  the  supply  produced  want 
and  misery  throughout  the  civilized  world.  This  could 
not  have  been  done  if  the  people  had  not  been  ignorant 
of  the  money  question. 

The  manipulators  of  finance,  or,  more  properly,  finan 
cial  robbers,  have  been  able  to  keep  the  people  in 
ignorance  of  the  question  of  finance.  The  fact  that 
money  is  a  function  created  by  law  which  is  made 
manifest  by  the  stamp  of  the  Government,  and  that  any 
material  upon  which  the  edict  of  the  Government  may 
be  stamped  commanding  creditors  to  receive  it  in  pay 
ment  of  debts  is  money,  is  kept  a  secret  by  the  designing 
few. 

Anything  bearing  the  stamp  of  the  Government 
making  it  legal  tender  is  the  best  money  that  can  be 
created.  The  value  of  each  unit  of  money,  of  course, 


326         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

must  depend  upon  the  volume  of  money  in  circulation 
compared  with  property  for  sale.  The  idea  of  regulat 
ing  that  volume  by  the  accident  of  mining,  whether  it 
be  gold  or  silver,  or  both,  is  no  more  intelligent  than 
the  practice  of  putting  a  stone  in  one  end  of  the  bag  to 
balance  the  corn  carried  to  the  mill. 

The  idea  that  any  one  commodity,  or  any  number  of 
commodities,  will  always  bear  the  same  relation  numeri 
cally  to  all  other  commodities,  is  too  absurd  for 
reflection.  But  inasmuch  as  money  can  be  stamped  on 
gold,  if  you  can  get  enough  of  it  it  will  answer  all  the 
purposes  of  commerce  equally  as  well  as  if  it  were 
stamped  on  paper — and  no  better. 

A  moment's  reflection  will  convince  any  one  that  gold 
has  depreciated  fully  50  per  cent,  in  the  last  ten  years; 
or,  what  is  the  same,  that  prices  in  general  have  risen 
fully  50  per  cent,  in  the  last  decade. 

We  hear  on  every  hand  that  everything  is  growing 
dearer,  and  our  daily  experience  verifies  the  enormous 
rise  in  the  value  of  property  compared  to  what  it  was 
ten  years  ago.  If  Mr.  Bryan  had  understood  these 
simple  principles  of  finance  and  accepted  the  situation 
which  presented  itself  in  1900,  he  would  not  have  led 
his  party  to  defeat  and  deprived  himself  of  a  brilliant 
reputation  which  he  acquired  in  his  campaign  of  1896. 

Before  the  inauguration  of  McKinley,  after  the  cam 
paign  of  1896,  I  published  a  little  book  entitled 
"Analysis  of  the  Functions  of  Money,"  which  states 
the  money  question  as  I  understand  it  after  some  years 
of  study  and  investigation. 

It  gives  me  great  satisfaction  to  be  able  to  name  one 
of  the  most  conspicuous  exceptions  to  the  dreary 
diatribes  in  Congress  on  the  money  question,  viz. :  the 
speeches  and  writings  of  my  honored  colleague,  John  P. 
Jones,  which  will  survive  for  the  instruction  of  future 
generations. 

It  is  not  my  purpose  to  speak  ill  of  former  colleagues 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         327 

who  are  now  dead,  but  John  Sherman  has  left  the  most 
enduring  monumental  record  of  fraud  and  deception  in 
manipulating  the  currency  to  enrich  the  few  and  impov 
erish  the  many  which  can  be  found. 

The  Record,  when  examined,  will  show  that  I  gave 
him  every  opportunity  to  explain  the  deception  he 
practiced  in  the  Senate,  which  he  could  not  do,  although 
he  made  a  desperate  effort  to  defend  himself  against  the 
charges  I  made.* 

I  submit  to  the  candid  judgment  of  my  readers  if  any 
self-righteousness  or  egotism  could  be  more  colossal  than 
the  claim  of  the  manipulators  of  London  and  New 
York,  that  they  were  the  purest  and  best,  and  that  any 
body  who  complained  of  the  villainous  schemes  of 
robbery  and  oppression  was  dishonest.  Does  anybody 
suppose  the  Morgans  and  Rockefellers,  and  their  asso 
ciates,  in  concentrating  the  wealth  of  the  nation  in  the 
hands  of  the  few,  are  any  worse  to-day  than  the 
conspirators  who  concocted  the  demonetization  of  silver 
and  doubled  the  obligation  of  thirty  thousand  millions 
of  bonded  indebtedness? 

If  the  people  of  the  United  States  succeed  in  uncov 
ering  their  methods  and  preventing  the  destruction  of 
the  Republic  by  impoverishing  the  masses  and  concen 
trating  the  wealth  of  the  nation  in  the  hands  of  the  few, 
liberty  may  survive.  No  government  has  ever  survived 
the  accumulation  of  the  wealth  of  the  country  in  the 
hands  of  an  unscrupulous  few. 

The  extravagant  panegyrics  upon  the  exploits  of  Alex 
ander  the  Great  are  not  warranted  by  the  fact  that  the 
vast  empires  of  the  East  which  he  invaded  were  rotten 
to  the  core.  The  people  had  no  interest  in  their  govern 
ments,  and  hailed  Alexander  with  his  few  soldiers  as  a 


*See  March  8,  1888,  Cong.  Record,  5oth  Congress,  ist  Sess., 
Part  2,  pp.  1848-52;  and  June  5,  1890,  Cong.  Record,  5ist  Cong., 
ist  Sess.,  Part  6,  pp.  5622-5641;  and  Sept.  5,  1893,  Cong.  Record, 
53rd  Cong.,  ist  Sess.,  Part  i,  pp.  1211-1236. 


328         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

deliverer,  and  not  as  an  enemy.  Those  empires  which 
were  defenseless  against  an  invader  could  send  armies 
abroad. 

Rome  furnishes  another  example  of  what  frenzied 
finance  could  do.  When  the  naked  barbarians  swarmed 
down  upon  the  Roman  Empire  they  had  no  fighting  to 
do.  Financial  robbers  had  done  their  work.  The 
people  sought  refuge  from  their  oppression  in  the  arms 
of  the  wild  men  of  the  North.  Hundreds  of  examples 
of  this  kind  might  be  given,  but  enough  has  been  said 
to  call  attention  to  what  may  happen  to  the  United 
States. 

If  the  colossal  fortunes  already  acquired  continue  to 
accumulate,  the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the  people 
at  large  will  have  no  love  for  a  government  in  which 
they  have  no  interest.  If  action  be  taken  in  time  the 
people  of  this  country  will  not  flock  to  a  foreign  or 
barbarous  standard  for  deliverance  from  bondage  at 
home. 

The  panic-breeding  National  Bank  system  is  a  twin 
sister  of  the  regulation  of  commerce  by  private  corpora 
tions.  I  have  insisted,  since  its  organization,  in  and  out 
of  Congress,  that  it  ought  to  be  abolished.  Under  it 
banks  are  allowed  to  borrow  money  from  the  United 
States  without  interest.  The  deposit  of  United  States 
bonds  in  the  Treasury  is  a  sham.  The  banks  draw 
interest  on  their  bonds  while  they  are  in  the  Treasury; 
consequently,  it  costs  the  banks  nothing  to  get  money 
from  the  Government.  The  country  banks  are  allowed 
to  loan  all  or  nearly  all  of  their  depositors'  money  to 
the  great  banks  of  New  York  and  draw  interest  thereon. 
The  New  York  banks  loan  the  money  so  obtained  from 
the  country  banks,  and  derive  great  profit  therefrom. 
The  multi-millionaires  control  the  stock  of  the  great 
banks  of  New  York  and  use  the  funds  of  those  banks  to 
carry  on  their  speculations. 

When  the  stocks  in  which  Rockefeller  and  his  kind 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         329 

are  interested  are  boomed  far  in  excess  of  their  value, 
mainly  on  margins,  the  great  banks  which  the  trusts 
control  refuse  to  loan  money.  The  investors  in  stocks 
and  bonds  are  unable  to  make  their  margins  good,  and 
a  panic  ensues  and  the  great  manipulators  who  caused  it 
collect  up,  at  their  own  price,  the  stocks  and  bonds 
which  are  practically  thrown  away.  Confidence  is  then 
restored  by  resumption  of  loans  by  the  great  banks 
which,  in  the  mean  time,  have  held  their  money  and 
issued  certificates  in  violation  of  the  statutes  of  the 
United  States. 

Why  should  the  Government  loan  money  to  anybody 
without  interest?  Why  should  not  all  persons  have  a 
right  to  get  money  from  the  Government  on  equal 
terms?  The  Government  alone  is  authorized  by  the 
Constitution  to  coin  or  stamp  money,  which  is  the  same 
thing,  and  regulate  the  value  thereof.  The  law  of 
supply  and  demand  regulates  the  value  of  money  as  it 
does  of  all  other  things. 

The  only  way  the  Government  can  regulate  the  value 
of  money  is  to  regulate  the  supply.  The  Government 
can  regulate  the  supply  by  furnishing  money  to  all  per 
sons  on  equal  terms.  Pass  a  law  whereby  all  the  people, 
including  bankers,  who  have  bonds  of  the  United  States 
may  sell  them  to  the  Government  at  par  for  currency, 
and  all  persons  having  currency  may  also  have  the  privi 
lege  of  buying  bonds  at  par.  The  banks  would  not  then 
have  a  monopoly  of  the  currency  by  getting  money  from 
the  Government  without  interest.  If  they  were  com 
pelled  to  pay  for  money  with  bonds,  the  same  as  all 
other  persons  and  corporations,  they  would  not  be  a 
favored  class  and  the  business  of  the  country  would  not 
be  controlled  by  them. 

The  ease  with  which  panics  can  be  created  is  shown 
by  Cleveland's  panic  of  1893  and  Rockefeller's  panic 
of  1907.  The  bondholders'  fraternity,  who  either 
owned  or  controlled  Mr.  Cleveland,  induced  him  to  send 


330         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

his  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  to  New  York  and  suggest 
that  the  great  banks  squeeze  a  little  and  tighten  the 
currency.  When  hard  times  began  Cleveland  issued  a 
proclamation  declaring  that  the  silver  coin  in  circulation, 
amounting  to  about  five  hundred  millions,  was  not  good 
money,  and  that  it  was  necessary  to  repeal  the  law  then 
existing,  authorizing  the  purchase  and  coinage  of 
silver.  A  panic  was  created  by  the  squeeze  and  the 
proclamation,  and  millions  of  enterprising  citizens  were 
ruined.  We  know  now  that  Mr.  Cleveland  did  not 
tell  the  truth  when  he  said  legal-tender  silver  dollars 
were  not  good  money,  because  they  have  been  circulating 
ever  since  on  a  par  with  gold,  without  question. 

In  1904  President  Roosevelt  began  an  investiga 
tion  of  the  various  devices  of  the  railroads  and  trusts 
to  rob  the  people  by  means  of  rate  discriminations. 
Among  others,  he  dared  to  investigate  the  doings  of  the 
great  and  cunning  financier,  J.  D.  Rockefeller,  and 
the  Standard  Oil  Trust,  which  had  been  created  by 
Rockefeller  and  his  associates.  Mr.  Rockefeller  told 
the  country  that  if  the  President  did  not  stop  his  investi 
gations  there  would  be  a  financial  panic. 

The  President  continued  to  investigate  and  prosecute 
the  violators  of  the  law;  the  squeeze  began,  and  finally 
terminated  in  a  most  disastrous  panic.  All  persons  in 
the  United  States  controlling  or  being  controlled  by  the 
trusts  and  monopolists,  who  are  subverting  the 
Government  of  the  Fathers  into  an  oligarchy  of 
multi-millionaires,  turned  against  the  President  and 
his  policy. 

In  November,  1907,  at  the  time  of  this  writing,  every 
person  the  oligarchy  can  command  is  assailing  the  Presi 
dent  and  charging  him  with  the  prevailing  panic.  The 
great  mass  of  the  people  who  own  themselves  and 
control  their  own  actions  are  in  favor  of  the  policy  of 
Theodore  Roosevelt  and  are  grateful  to  him  for  raising 
the  curtain  in  time  to  enable  them  to  see  the  dangers 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         331 

which  threaten  the  Republic,  and  to  avoid  the  final  col 
lapse  which  inevitably  follows  the  concentration  of 
wealth. 


CHAPTER   XXXVII 

The  Pacific  Railroad — Jefferson  Davis's  survey — Collis  P.  Hunting- 
ton — Crossing  the  Rockies — Rivalry  of  the  companies — Credit 
Mobilier  scandal — Investigation  by  Congress — Beginning  of 
railroad  rate  discrimination  against  the  people. 

It  was  the  early  dream  of  both  the  East  and  West 
to  find  a  suitable  route  upon  which  to  construct  a  railroad 
across  the  United  States  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific. 
Jefferson  Davis,  while  Secretary  of  War,  had  four  routes 
surveyed  across  the  continent  by  the  engineers  of  the 
Army.  The  work  was  very  thoroughly  performed,  and 
a  complete  description  was  given  as  to  topography,  tem 
perature,  and  the  natural  resources  along  the  four 
routes.  These  surveys  were  published  by  the  Govern 
ment  in  twelve  large  volumes,  which  I  have  in  my 
library,  and  I  have  often  perused  them  with  much  inter 
est  and  profit. 

It  was  deemed  necessary  by  the  War  Department  to 
purchase  an  additional  section  of  land  from  Mexico, 
which  was  known  as  the  Gadsden  Purchase,  to  secure 
the  right  to  construct  a  railroad  on  the  32d  parallel. 

It  was  contended  by  the  engineers  that  it  was  imprac 
ticable  to  construct  a  railroad  on  either  of  the  routes 
which  are  now  known  as  the  Santa  Fe,  the  Central,  and 
Northern  routes.  The  people  of  the  Pacific  Coast  were 
much  gratified  at  the  Gadsden  Purchase,  because  they 
believed  that  ultimately  a  railroad  would  be  constructed 
on  that  line. 

From  1850  to  1860  the  growing  antagonism  between 
the  North  and  South  on  account  of  the  institution  of 
slavery  was  a  great  discouragement  to  the  people  of  the 
Pacific  Coast.  They  feared  that  the  trans-continental 
railroad  would  never  be  constructed.  After  the  war 
began  there  was  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the  Government 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         333 

at  Washington,  as  well  as  on  the  Pacific  Coast,  to 
connect  the  two  sections  by  a  railroad  for  military  as 
well  as  commercial  purposes.  It  was  feared  the  Pacific 
Coast  could  not  be  held  with  the  Atlantic  States  unless 
a  military  road  joined  them  with  bands  of  iron. 

Five  gentlemen,  C.  P.  Huntington,  Mark  Hopkins, 
Leland  Stanford,  Judge  Crocker,  and  his  big  brother 
Charles  Crocker,  residing  in  Sacramento,  California,  all 
Union  men,  conceived  the  project  of  a  railroad  over  the 
Central  route. 

The  press  of  San  Francisco  ridiculed  the  idea,  but 
the  Sacramento  projectors  of  the  enterprise  never 
wavered.  They  went  to  Washington  in  1862,  and 
joined  a  party  of  business  men  from  Boston,  with  Repre 
sentative  Oakes  Ames  of  Massachusetts  as  their  leader. 
Mr.  Ames  was  a  hardware  merchant  who  had  supplied 
California,  from  the  earliest  development  of  the  mines, 
with  picks  and  shovels,  and  his  name  was  a  household 
word  in  every  Western  mining  camp.  Congress  passed 
a  law  for  the  organization  of  the  Union  Pacific 
Railroad  Company,  and  invited  men  from  all  the 
Northern  and  Eastern  States  to  take  stock  in  the 
corporation. 

The  gentlemen  from  Sacramento,  before  going  to 
Washington,  organized  themselves  into  a  corporation 
called  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad  Company.  The 
Union  Pacific  Company,  authorized  by  Congress,  was 
given  rights  as  far  west  as  the  California  line,  and  the 
Central  Pacific  was  authorized  to  construct  a  line  from 
tide-water  to  meet  the  Union  Pacific. 

Aid  in  money  and  land  was  granted  by  the  Govern 
ment  to  both  companies,  but  the  embarrassed  finances 
of  the  country  in  consequence  of  the  war  mlade  it 
impossible  for  either  company  to  comply  with  the 
conditions  of  the  grant.  The  Central,  however,  having 
obtained  some  aid  in  California,  constructed  a  few 
miles  of  railroad  from  Sacramento  east,  and  selected 


334         Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart 

what  was  then  known  as  the  Dutch  Flat  route  as  the 
line  of  their  road. 

Two  years  later,  in  1864,  Congress  allowed  both  of 
the  railroads  to  issue  a  first-mortgage  bond  equal  in 
amount  to  the  subsidy  of  the  United  States ;  and  the  lien 
of  the  United  States  for  the  money  advanced,  about 
$60,000,000,  for  the  two  roads,  was  made  subsequent, 
by  the  Act  of  1864,  to  the  bonded  lien  which  the  Com 
pany  was  authorized  to  put  upon  the  road  as  fast  as  it 
was  constructed.  When  the  work  was  actually 
commenced  at  both  ends,  Congress  became  anxious  to 
expedite  the  construction,  and  passed  a  law  allowing 
each  company  to  build  all  the  railroad  it  could  until 
the  tracks  met.  After  this  resolution  the  work  went  on 
with  remarkable  energy. 

The  Central  Pacific  Company  organized  among  them 
selves  a  construction  company  in  which  all  equally 
participated.  The  Union  Pacific  Company  made  a 
contract  with  an  outside  corporation,  known  as  the 
Credit  Mobilier. 

The  five  hundred  miles  of  the  Union  Pacific  road 
from  Omaha  to  Cheyenne  were  over  a  level  plain  and 
through  a  good  agricultural  country.  The  lands  granted 
by  the  Government,  and  the  bonds,  much  more  than 
built  the  road.  The  Credit  Mobilier  Company  made 
large  dividends  on  its  stock  during  the  building  of 
the  road.  As  the  roads  approached  each  other  a 
most  exciting  contest  arose  as  to  where  the  junction 
should  be. 

The  law  which  allowed  each  company  to  build  all  the 
road  it  could  construct  provided  that  each  should  con 
struct  a  continuous  line.  The  Union  Pacific  Company, 
when  it  reached  the  Wasatch  Mountains,  did  not  wait 
for  the  completion  of  a  tunnel,  which  was  afterward 
constructed,  but  zigzagged  its  railroad  over  the  moun 
tain. 

The  Central  Pacific  Company  tunneled  through  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         335 

Sierra  Nevada  Mountains  and  built  a  continuous  line 
so  far  as  it  went.  The  Union  Pacific  comme.nced  con 
struction  at  many  points  west  of  Ogden  and  as  far  as 
Elko,  Nevada.  The  Central  Pacific  rushed  its  work, 
with  the  result  that  the  lines  of  grade  paralleled  each 
other  for  more  than  two  hundred  miles. 

The  Union  Pacific  sought  legislation  to  fix  the  point 
of  meeting,  and  framed  a  bill  to  suit  themselves,  and 
passed  it  through  the  House  of  Representatives,  where 
they  had  an  overwhelming  majority.  The  bill  came 
up  for  consideration  in  the  Senate  in  the  winter  of  1869. 
It  was  contended  on  the  part  of  the  Union  Pacific  that 
they  were  fully  justified  in  extending  their  line  as  far 
as  Elko,  Nevada. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  Central  Pacific  contended  that 
the  Union  Pacific  was  not  entitled  to  come  west  of  the 
Wasatch  Mountains,  because  they  had  not  complied 
with  the  conditions  required  to  build  a  continuous  line, 
but  had  built  a  temporary  track  over  the  mountains. 

The  Union  Pacific  had  friends  in  all  the  Atlantic 
States,  who  not  only  gave  them  an  overwhelming 
majority  in  the  House,  but  also  a  majority  that  could 
not  be  overcome  in  the  Senate. 

I  heard  of  a  lawsuit  which  was  instituted  in  Philadel 
phia  by  one  of  the  Union  Pacific  stockholders  against 
the  Credit  Mobilier  Company  and  the  Directors  of  the 
Union  Pacific  Company,  for  an  accounting,  in  which  it 
appeared  that  Oakes  Ames,  the  president  of  the  Union 
Pacific  Company,  had  distributed  a  large  number  of 
shares  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company  among  mem 
bers  of  Congress.  These  shares  became  very  valuable 
because  they  paid  large  dividends.  I  asked  Mr.  Hunt- 
ington  to  obtain  the  record  of  that  suit  and  all  the 
testimony,  and  he  did  so. 

I  stated  to  the  Senate  the  reasons  why  the  Central 
ought  to  be  allowed  to  proceed  to  a  suitable  stopping- 
place  for  both  companies.  I  said  that  the  people  of 


336         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  West  desired  to  reach  the  Salt  Lake  settlements  of 
Utah,  and  the  Central  Pacific,  having  built  a  continuous 
line,  were  entitled  to  go  there,  if  not  farther.  It  was 
claimed  on  the  part  of  the  Union  Pacific  people  that  they 
needed  something  over  six  millions  more  to  complete 
their  line. 

I  exhibited  the  contracts  between  the  Union  Pacific 
directors  and  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company,  and  con 
tended  it  was  the  duty  of  the  Government  to  investigate 
the  affairs  of  the  Union  Pacific  to  prevent  the  subsidy 
granted  by  the  Government  being  wasted  through  the 
instrumentality  of  the  Mobilier  Company,  so  that  the 
Union  Pacific  Company  might  not  be  bankrupt  or  ren 
dered  incapable  of  redeeming  the  Government  lien. 
After  I  had  laid  the  foundation  for  my  argument,  I 
had  read  in  the  Senate  the  charter  of  the  Credit  Mobilier 
Company,  and  stated  that  I  had  the  entire  record  of  the 
litigation  in  Philadelphia  to  exhibit.  After  the  reading 
of  the  charter  the  Senate  adjourned. 

The  companies  met  that  night  and  agreed  upon 
Ogden  as  a  place  of  meeting.  The  Union  Pacific  did 
not  want  the  record  of  the  Philadelphia  case  read  in 
the  Senate.  A  delegation  from  the  two  companies  came 
to  my  room  that  evening  and  asked  me  if,  in  case  of  a 
settlement,  I  would  eliminate  from  my  speech  in  the 
Record  the  charter  of  the  Credit  Mobilier  Company 
and  my  proposal  to  offer  the  record  of  the  Philadelphia 
case.  I  agreed,  for  the  sake  of  harmony. 

In  the  next  Presidential  campaign  the  record  which  I 
had  withheld  was  published,  and  the  investigation  of 
the  Credit  Mobilier  Company  followed  in  the  next 
session  of  Congress.  It  was  reported  to  me  by  Mr. 
Huntington  that  during  the  settlement  between  the  two 
companies  all  matters  were  amicably  adjusted  except 
one,  and  that  Oakes  Ames  had  said  he  would  forgive 
everybody  except  me. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  Congress,  after  the  matter 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         337 

of  the  Credit  Mobilier  was  exposed,  and  before  the 
investigation  had  proceeded  to  any  extent,  some  member 
of  the  Senate  made  some  very  disparaging  remarks 
about  Oakes  Ames,  who,  unknown  to  myself,  was  sitting 
behind  me  in  the  Senate. 

The  remarks  were  so  unjust,  for  Oakes  Ames  had 
played  such  an  important  part  in  the  construction  of  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  and  had  expended  his  great  fortune 
in  the  enterprise,  that  I  felt  called  upon  to  defend  him. 
I  did  so,  doing  him  nothing  but  simple  justice. 

I  turned  around  a  few  minutes  later  to  pass  into  the 
cloakroom,  and  saw  Mr.  Ames,  with  eyes  wet  with 
tears.  He  arose,  extended  his  hand,  and  said : 

"I  told  Mr.  Huntington  to  tell  you  I  never  would 
forgive  you.  I  want  to  take  that  back,  and  want  to  be 
your  friend." 

Afterward,  during  the  whole  of  the  investigation,  I 
frequently  talked  to  him  about  the  conduct  of  different 
parties  involved  in  the  scandal.  He  did  not  appear  to 
have  much  concern  for  himself  or  to  realize  that  he 
had  committed  any  wrong.  He  said  that  when  the 
legislation,  which  made  it  possible  to  construct  the 
Pacific  Railroad,  had  passed  both  Houses  of  Congress, 
he  did  not  anticipate  that  he  should  have  occasion  to  call 
upon  Congress  for  any  further  legislation,  and  he 
thought  those  who  had  been  active  in  securing  the  legis 
lation  ought  to  have  some  token  of  recognition  for 
their  services.  He  did  not  know,  he  said,  at  the  time  he 
gave  them  the  stock,  that  it  would  be  so  valuable.  He 
said  he  was  very  sorry  he  did  it,  and  intended  no  wrong. 

What  grieved  him  most  was  that  a  number  of  his 
old  friends  appealed  to  him  to  lie  in  their  behalf.  He 
brought  me  a  letter  one  day  from  a  Senator  to  whom  he 
had  given  some  of  the  stock,  requesting  him  to  make 
an  affidavit  that  the  charges  were  not  true.  Ames  said 
he  would  not  perjure  himself.  I  told  him  he  was  right. 

I  do  not  feel  disposed  to  discuss  or  criticise  persons 


338         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

who  were  involved  in  the  Credit  Mobilier  investigation, 
but  Oakes  Ames,  notwithstanding  the  errors  he  unwit 
tingly  committed,  deserves  well  of  the  American  people, 
and  his  name  should  be  cherished  by  all  as  a  brave, 
energetic,  enterprising  man. 

The  unjust  and  violent  criticism  of  the  press  and  of 
ambitious  partisans  will  be  deplored  in  view  of  the 
accomplishment  of  the  great  work  under  embarrassing 
and  adverse  circumstances,  and  particularly  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  the  Government  has  received  back  all  the 
subsidy  granted,  dollar  for  dollar,  with  interest  at  six 
per  cent,  per  annum,  while  the  Government  at  the  same 
time  was  borrowing  money  for  less  than  four  per  cent, 
per  annum,  making  a  net  gain  in  interest  of  from  two 
to  three  per  cent. 

The  five  gentlemen  from  Sacramento  who  conceived 
the  idea  of  constructing  a  Pacific  Railroad  over  the 
Central  route,  which  had  been  condemned  by  the  War 
Department  as  impracticable,  and  pushed  the  work  with 
heroic  faith,  will  be  remembered  in  after  years  with 
gratitude  and  admiration.  When  their  great  success 
ceases  to  excite  jealousy,  and  the  work  they  did  is  viewed 
from  an  impartial  standpoint,  their  merits  will  be 
acknowledged. 

C.  P.  Huntington  was  the  greatest  railroad  builder 
the  United  States  has  ever  produced.  He  provided  the 
sinews  of  war  from  the  beginning.  His  financial  honor 
and  unswerving  integrity  soon  secured  for  him  the  con 
fidence  of  the  financial  world.  He  did  not  adopt  the 
plan  by  which  many  of  the  great  railroad  magnates 
have  made  themselves  millionaires. 

He  never  wrecked  a  road,  nor  made  a  dollar  from  the 
destruction  of  other  men's  fortunes.  He  bought  many 
run-down  railroads,  reconstructed  them,  and  made  them 
paying  institutions.  By  this  means  he  acquired  millions 
and  benefited  the  people.  The  construction  of  a  railroad 
from  Ogden  to  San  Francisco,  and  from  San  Francisco 


Reminiscences  of   William  M.  Stewart         339 

to  Portland,  Oregon;  and  another  from  San  Francisco 
to  New  Orleans,  with  numerous  branches  to  each,  was 
a  marvelous  undertaking.  A  man  who  could  devise 
such  a  gigantic  enterprise  will  be  remembered  in  history. 

Huntington  was  a  benevolent  man ;  his  charities  were 
numerous,  liberal,  and  judicious,  and  he  intended  that 
they  should  be  private.  He  was  never  a  candidate  for 
laudation,  and  never  attempted  to  purchase  fame  by 
spending  money  on  the  housetop. 

It  is  true  that  the  people  have  been  unjustly  discrim 
inated  against  by  the  Pacific  Railroad,  but  I  know  of 
my  own  knowledge  that  the  managers  of  the  railroad 
were  not  so  much  at  fault  in  this  matter  as  the  mer 
chants  of  San  Francisco. 

In  1849  tne  Board  of  Trade  of  San  Francisco  devised 
many  schemes  to  acquire  quick  wealth  at  the  expense  of 
the  miners  in  the  interior.  All  the  supplies  which  Cali 
fornia  consumed  for  several  years  after  the  discovery 
of  gold  on  the  American  River  came  through  the  Golden 
Gate.  The  price  of  food,  wearing  apparel,  tools,  and 
machinery  which  the  miners  were  compelled  to  have 
was  not  regulated  by  the  law  of  supply  and  demand, 
but  by  arbitrary  edicts  issued  by  the  Board  of  Trade. 
However  abundant  food  was  in  San  Francisco,  the  price 
at  which  it  could  be  obtained  was  generally  exorbitant. 

When  the  Pacific  Railroad  was  nearing  completion  the 
Board  of  Trade  of  San  Francisco  notified  the  managers 
that  they  must  establish  a  freight  schedule  which  would 
give  them  the  trade  they  had  previously  enjoyed  in 
supplying  the  interior.  In  other  words,  upon  goods 
delivered  at  any  point  east  of  Sacramento  there  should 
be  added  to  the  freight  rate  to  San  Francisco  the  local 
rate  from  San  Francisco  to  the  point  of  delivery. 

The  railroad  company  hesitated,  and  the  San  Fran 
cisco  merchants,  to  compel  compliance,  aided  in  the 
establishment  of  a  clipper  ship  line  around  the  Horn, 
and  took  measures  to  obtain  freight  by  the  Panama 


340         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

route.  In  this  way  they  forced  the  railroad  company  to 
submit  to  their  demands.  The  system  has  been  kept 
up  since  the  construction  of  the  Pacific  Railroad,  and 
is  still  in  force  so  far  as  Nevada  is  concerned. 

Southern  California  was  partially  rescued  from  San 
Francisco  railroad  monopoly  by  the  construction  of  the 
Santa  Fe  Railroad.  Oregon,  Washington,  and  Idaho 
were  liberated  by  the  Oregon  Short  Line,  the  North 
ern  Pacific,  and  the  Great  Northern. 

Whatever  may  have  been,  and  whatever  now  may 
be,  the  reason  for  the  discrimination  against  Nevada  in 
freights  and  fares  of  the  Central  Pacific,  it  is  evident 
to  every  intelligent  man  who  has  investigated  the  ques 
tion  that  the  railroad  has  been  the  loser.  If  the  same 
encouragement  had  been  extended  to  Nevada  in  the 
way  of  freights  and  fares  as  Colorado  has  enjoyed 
from  the  beginning,  Nevada  would  have  been  for  the 
last  forty  years  a  growing  and  prosperous  State,  with 
abundant  business  and  a  network  of  railroads.  There 
is  no  doubt  in  my  mind  that  if  the  Sierra  Nevada  Moun 
tains  had  been  sufficiently  high  to  be  impassable,  Nevada 
would  now  have  a  population  equal  to  that  of  Colorado. 

The  Comstock  did  much  to  build  up  the  city  of  San 
Francisco,  but  nothing  is  left  in  Nevada  to  bear  testi 
mony  to  the  millions  furnished  by  the  great  mine.  The 
Virginia  &  Truckee  Railroad,  owned  in  San  Francisco 
and  New  York,  was  built  by  assessments  on  the  mines, 
and  aid  furnished  by  local  county  governments.  Since 
its  construction  it  has  made  millions  for  those  who 
ordered  the  people  to  build  it. 

While  Nevadians  welcome  Californians  who  can 
overcome  the  teachings  of  a  generation,  and  without 
regard  to  prejudice  or  preconceived  opinions  cross  the 
Sierra  Nevada  to  dwell,  they  are  glad  to  inform  them 
that  they  can  get  along  without  them.  The  men  of 
Pennsylvania,  Colorado,  Utah,  Montana,  Idaho,  and 
other  States  make  up  a  population  good  enough  for 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         341 

Nevada.  Their  presence  in  the  State  has  revived  enter 
prise  and  discovered  vast  mineral  resources  which 
will  soon  place  Nevada  in  the  lead  of  mineral-produc 
ing  States.  The  agricultural  resources  of  the  State, 
developed  by  Government  aid  and  private  enterprise, 
will  attract  a  large  and  thriving  population  to  supply 
the  markets  which  the  developments  of  the  mineral 
resources  of  the  State  will  furnish. 

The  scheming  Board  of  Trade  of  San  Francisco, 
aided  by  the  railroads  it  controls,  must  in  the  near 
future  lose  its  grasp  on  the  State  of  Nevada.  Goods 
will  be  landed  in  any  part  of  the  State,  as  they  now  are 
in  Colorado,  Utah,  or  any  other  State,  without  the 
unjust  discrimination  which  has  paralyzed  Nevada  for 
a  generation. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 

Conflict  between  the  railroads  and  the  Government — How  the  trusts 
rob  the  people — An  argument  for  government  ownership  a 
gloomy  view  of  the  economic  situation — Praise  for  Theodore 
Roosevelt. 

It  must  not  be  inferred  that  I  indorse  the  present 
railroad  system  of  the  United  States.  While  I  commend 
the  foresight,  energy,  and  courage  of  such  builders  as 
C.  P.  Huntington  and  his  associates,  I  realize  that  the 
railroads  are  subverting  the  Government  and  destroying 
the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  people. 

Railroads  have  superseded  public  highways,  and  have 
been  granted  franchises  under  which  they  exact  all  the 
profits  the  traffic  will  bear;  and  they  assume  authority 
to  decide  what  they  shall  take,  and  what  they  shall 
leave  to  the  people.  While  it  does  not  extend  to  all 
the  property  of  the  people,  it  extends  to  all  persons  and 
property  transported  on  railroads,  and  as  to  such  prop 
erty,  the  power  claimed  and  exercised  by  railroad  cor 
porations  is  co-extensive  with  the  power  of  taxation 
possessed  by  any  independent  government. 

The  fixing  of  fares  and  freights  by  railroad  cor 
porations  is  the  power  of  sovereignty  without  consti 
tutional  limitation.  It  is  so  emphatically  the  sovereign 
power  of  taxation  which  the  railroad  corporations  have 
exercised  in  this  country,  and  claim  the  right  to  exer 
cise,  as  long  as  they  own  and  control  railroads,  that  I 
shall  treat  the  regulation  of  fares  and  freights  as  taxa 
tion,  not  by  the  sovereign,  but  by  usurpation  of  sovereign 
power. 

The  railroads  also  exercise  the  power  to  transfer  the 
earnings  of  the  people,  not  only  to  railroad  corpora 
tions,  but  to  favored  companies  and  individuals. 

Andrew  Carnegie,  the  father  of  the  Steel  Trust,  is 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         343 

a  most  conspicuous  example  of  how  to  get  rich  quick 
by  railroad  discrimination.  He  is  now  engaged  in 
spending  a  small  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the  hundreds 
of  millions  of  watered  stock  which  fell  to  his  share 
when  he  organized  the  Steel  Trust  and  doubled  the 
price  on  all  commodities  manufactured  from  iron  ore. 
The  libraries  he  is  establishing,  to  create  and  perpetuate 
his  renown  as  a  benefactor,  are  accessible  to  the  rich, 
which  he  may  regard  as  sufficient  compensation  to  the 
taxpayers  for  the  perpetual  burdens  his  libraries  invari 
ably  entail  upon  them.  He  was  also  one  of  the  con 
spirators  who  demonetized  silver  to  enhance  the  value 
of  gold. 

In  1891,  when  the  distress  from  the  demonetization 
of  silver  was  most  acute,  and  before  the  new  output 
of  gold  had  relieved  the  money  famine,  he  published  in 
the  North  American  Review  an  arrogant  and  self- 
lauding  article,  mocking  the  toiling  masses  by  telling 
them  it  was  their  duty  to  buy  more  gold — when  they 
were  straining  every  nerve  to  obtain  rrioney  to  save 
themselves  from  bankruptcy.  I  took  occasion  to  reply 
to  his  publication  in  language  which  I  deemed  appropri 
ate  of  his  self-serving  and  egotistical  production. 

It  was  the  partiality  of  the  railroads  to  the  Standard 
Oil  Company  that  made  it  possible  for  Rockefeller  to 
accumulate  a  thousand  millions  of  money  in  addition 
to  the  colossal  fortune  of  all  connected  with  that  favored 
company. 

It  was  discrimination  of  the  railroads  in  favor  of  the 
Packers'  Trust  at  Chicago,  Omaha,  and  Kansas  City 
which  enabled  that  gigantic  institution  to  destroy  the 
business  of  every  independent  butcher  in  the  United 
States,  and  confine  the  killing  of  animals  to  the  locali 
ties  appointed  by  the  trust,  thereby  not  only  giving  the 
trust  the  monopoly  over  the  markets  of  the  United  States, 
but, giving  it  complete  control  of  the  price  of  cattle, 
sheep,  hogs,  and  poultry  throughout  the  entire  country. 


344         Reminiscences   of  William  M.  Stewart 

The  millions  taken  from  the  people  and  concentrated 
in  the  enormous  trusts  are  not  the  greatest  evil  inflicted 
upon  the  American  people.  The  storage  of  beef,  mut 
ton,  pork,  and  poultry  in  localities  selected  by  the  trust, 
to  be  distributed  throughout  the  whole  country  as 
occasion  may  require,  is  destroying  the  vitality  of  the 
people  of  the  United  States.  Ptomaine  poison  is  under 
mining  the  health  of  all  the  people. 

The  effect  upon  the  health  of  the  people  is  well 
illustrated  by  the  fact  that  during  the  Civil  War  the 
stomachs  of  the  young  men,  North  and  South,  were 
rarely  defective;  but  during  the  Spanish  War  it  was 
difficult  to  find  a  recruit  with  a  sound  and  healthy 
digestive  apparatus. 

Nearly  every  trust  afflicting  the  United  States  has 
been  created  by  the  manipulations  of  the  railroad  man 
agers.  If  under  the  present  system  of  railroads  there 
is  no  limit  of  power  of  managers  of  corporations  in 
exercising  taxation,  or  in  building  up  or  tearing  down 
the  enterprises  of  the  people,  there  must  be  a  change  or 
the  Government  will  be  destroyed. 

The  power  of  taxation  is  essential  to  all  independent 
governments,  without  which  no  government  can  exist; 
but  if  the  railroads  can  exact  all  the  contributions  that 
the  business  of  the  country  will  bear — as  they  claim 
the  right  to  do — the  time  is  not  far  distant  when  the 
country  will  be  ruined  and  an  oligarchy  of  railroad 
magnates  will  supplant  the  Government  established  by 
the  Fathers. 

I  thank  President  Roosevelt  for  bringing  the  ques 
tion  before  the  people  for  discussion,  in  his  recom 
mendation  of  railroad  regulation.  He  is  entitled  to 
the  gratitude  of  the  country  for  his  exposure  of  the 
Beef  Trust,  Standard  Oil  Trust,  Steel  Trust,  and  other 
trusts  and  combinations,  all  of  which  are  the  creation 
of  railroad  discriminations. 

The  interstate  commerce  laws  are  the  entering  wedge 


Reminiscences   of  William  M.  Stewart         345 

for  the  exercise  by  Congress  of  the  power  to  regulate 
commerce  with  foreign  countries  and  among  the  sev 
eral  States.  The  regulation  of  commerce  cannot  be  left 
to  private  corporations.  The  wisdom  of  the  constitu 
tion  in  conferring  the  power  to  regulate  commerce  upon 
Congress  is  fully  vindicated  by  the  unbusiness-like,  if 
not  dishonest,  regulation  of  commerce  by  railroad  cor 
porations.  Whether  it  is  possible  for  Congress  to 
regulate  commerce  on  private  railroads  while  those 
roads  are  managed  by  private  corporations  is  an  unset 
tled  question,  but  if  it  cannot  be  done  by  the  joint  action 
of  the  Government  and  private  corporations  the  United 
States  must  own  the  railroads.  The  question  must  be 
settled.  The  agitation  will  not  stop  until  Congress 
regulates  commerce  without  interference  from  any 
source.  In  view  of  the  inevitable  depreciation  of  rail 
road  property  and  railroad  securities  during  the  long 
contest  which  will  be  necessary  to  secure  the  regulation 
of  commerce  over  private  railroads,  why  would  it  not 
be  good  policy  for  the  railroads  without  coercive 
measures  to  sell  to  the  General  Government  and  take 
in  payment  interest-bearing  bonds  of  the  United  States  ? 
Why  would  not  such  an  investment  be  profitable  to  the 
Government?  This  would  accomplish  a  settlement  of 
a  question  which  may  agitate  the  country  for  a 
generation. 

It  has  been  suggested  that  ownership  and  manage 
ment  of  railroads  would  place  enormous  power  in  the 
hands  of  the  General  Government,  and  so  concentrate 
authority  as  to  create  a  monarchical  government,  which 
might  be  dangerous  to  liberty. 

If  the  alternative  is  presented  of  ownership  by  the 
Government,  or  the  despotism  of  an  oligarchy  of  rail 
road  magnates,  I  prefer  the  former,  because  no  govern 
ment,  however  arbitrary,  would  undertake  to  transfer 
the  earnings  of  the  people  to  corporations,  trusts,  and 
favorite  individuals,  with  such  unparalleled  rapidity  as 


346         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

the  railroads  have  done  in  the  last  thirty  years.  Public 
sentiment  is  powerful  with  any  government,  while  irre 
sponsible  corporations  are  blind  to  the  wrongs  of  the 
masses,  and  treat  with  contempt  the  reasonable  com 
plaints  of  the  people. 

It  may  be  that  this  Government  can  survive,  notwith 
standing  the  multi-millionaires  already  created  by  the 
railroads;  but  it  cannot  withstand  the  continuance  of 
the  process  of  transferring  the  earnings  of  the  masses 
to  an  oligarchy  of  wealth  without  suffering  the  fate  of 
the  nations  which  have  preceded  us,  whose  people  were 
slaves,  and  millionaires  their  slave-masters. 

The  conflict  between  the  people  and  their  financial 
oppressors  cannot  be  postponed.  One  generation  more 
of  the  rule  of  railroad  monopoly  will  not  only  con 
centrate  the  wealth  of  the  nation  in  the  hands  of  the 
few,  but  will  impoverish  the  people  and  weaken  their 
power  of  resistance. 

It  must  be  admitted  that  railroad  corporations,  and 
the  trusts  they  have  created,  are  more  formidable 
antagonists  of  the  people  than  any  with  which  former 
generations  were  compelled  to  contend;  but  the  people 
of  the  United  States  are  better  prepared  to  overcome 
the  enemies  of  human  rights  than  any  people  who  have 
preceded  them. 

The  fact  that  the  ancient  empires  of  Asia,  Africa, 
and  Europe  perished  through  the  avarice  and  oppres 
sion  of  the  masses  by  the  cunning  and  greedy  few,  does 
not  prove  that  there  is  not  a  remedy  for  intolerable 
injustice. 

When  the  people  of  France  were  serfs,  and  all  the 
property  belonged  to  the  church  and  the  nobles,  the 
vitality  of  the  Gauls  was  sufficient  to  overthrow  their 
oppressors  and  distribute  the  land  among  the  natives 
of  the  soil. 

When  the  church  and  the  nobles  seemed  to  have 
England  in  their  perpetual  control,  Anglo-Saxon  vigor 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         347 

and  manhood  limited  the  monopoly  of  the  soil  by  pass 
ing  laws  to  deprive  corporations  from  acquiring  or 
holding  more  land  than  was  absolutely  necessary  for  the 
purpose  of  their  organization. 

The  laws  of  mortmain,  passed  from  time  to  time  by 
the  Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  show  that  the  power 
of  government  in  which  the  people  had  a  voice  checked 
the  aggression  of  the  monopoly.  The  success  of  the 
people  of  England,  France,  and  many  other  countries 
of  Europe  in  asserting  their  rights  against  oppression 
is  most  encouraging.  How  much  more  may  not  be  pre 
dicted  for  the  people  of  the  United  States,  who  have 
established  and  maintained  the  freest  and  the  most 
potent  Government  which  ever  existed  in  the  history 
of  the  world! 

The  only  danger  is  delay.  It  will  take  but  a  few 
generations  of  the  rule  of  railroads  and  trusts  to  pre 
pare  our  Government  for  the  fate  of  Egypt,  Babylon, 
Greece,  and  Rome. 

If  the  wealth  of  the  country  becomes  concentrated 
in  the  hands  of  a  few,  its  redistribution  among  the  peo 
ple  may  not  be  as  gradual  as  the  methods  employed  by 
our  ancestors  in  the  mother  country,  and  it  is  even 
possible  that  it  may  exceed  the  horrors  of  the  French 
Revolution  in  quick  retribution  for  intolerable  wrongs. 
It  is  to  be  hoped  that  the  investigation  of  the  railroad 
oligarchy  and  its  brood  of  infamous  trusts  will  reveal 
to  the  people  a  remedy  by  peaceful  means  without  the 
necessity  of  violence  or  bloodshed. 


CHAPTER    XXXIX 

Irrigation  investigations  in  the  arid  regions — Marvels  of  the  Mor 
mons — Major  Powell  grows  ambitious  and  is  removed  from 
office — A  powerful  friend  in  the  White  House — What  Roosevelt 
has  done  for  the  development  of  the  country. 


In  traveling  over  the  arid  regions  of  the  West  dur 
ing  the  twelve  years  from  1875  to  1887,  during  which 
time  I  was  not  in  the  Senate,  I  was  strongly  impressed 
with  the  vast  extent  of  country  west  of  the  one  hun 
dredth  meridian  that  required  irrigation  to  produce 
crops. 

Immediately  upon  reentering  the  Senate  in  1887  I 
agitated  the  subject,  and  by  speeches  and  articles  in  the 
magazines  brought  to  the  attention  of  the  Senate  the 
fact  that  two-thirds,  if  not  three-fourths,  of  all  the 
agriculture  which  had  supported  civilized  and  semi- 
civilized  people  had  been  pursued  by  means  of  arti 
ficial  irrigation.  The  conflict  between  man  and  the 
desert  has  been  unceasing  since  the  dawn  of  history. 
When  Egypt  was  the  granary7  of  the  world,  much  of 
the  Sahara  Desert  was  irrigated  from  the  Nile,  and 
the  dams  and  aqueducts  which  once  turned  that  mighty 
river  consisted  of  masonry  so  perfect  in  material  and 
construction  as  to  defy  modern  imitation.  The  ruins 
of  irrigation  works,  such  as  dams,  reservoirs,  and 
aqueducts,  are  everywhere  visible  in  the  ancient  land  of 
Palestine.  The  waters  of  the  Euphrates  were  spread 
over  hundreds  of  acres  that  fructified  what  is  now  a 
vast  desert,  while  the  ruins  of  Babylon  and  other  ancient 
cities  challenge  the  curiosity  and  admiration  of  the 
scientists  of  our  own  time. 

It  was  evident  to  me  that  the  arid  region  of  our 
country  could  only  be  made  habitable  by  irrigation,  and 
that  the  snow-capped  region  of  the  Rocky  and  Sierra 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         349 

Nevada  Mountains  furnished  a  more  abundant  supply 
of  water  for  irrigation  of  the  valleys  than  was  found 
in  the  ancient  empires  once  so  densely  populated. 

I  offered  a  resolution  in  the  Senate  creating  a  Com 
mittee  on  Irrigation,  and,  following  a  full  discussion, 
the  resolution  passed,  and  soon  after  a  like  committee 
was  organized  in  the  House  of  Representatives.  I  then 
offered  a  resolution  in  the  Senate  authorizing  the  Com 
mittee  on  Irrigation  to  travel  over  the  arid  region, 
investigate  conditions,  and  report  to  the  next  ses 
sion  of  Congress.  I  was  made  chairman  of  the  Senate 
committee. 

The  two  men  on  that  committee  who  manifested  the 
greatest  interest  and  took  the  most  active  part  were 
Senators  John  H.  Reagan  of  Texas  and  James  K.  Jones 
of  Arkansas.  I  invited  Major  Powell,  Director  of  the 
Geological  Survey,  to  accompany  the  committee.  We 
visited  every  State  and  Territory  of  the  arid  regions. 

In  many  places  we  found  people  residing  on  the  banks 
of  streams  which  flowed  through  valleys  of  fertile  soil, 
actually  suffering  for  the  products  of  the  farm  which 
they  could  easily  have  acquired  if  they  had  known  the 
elementary  principles  of  irrigation.  To  these  we 
imparted  such  information  as  we  had,  and  passed  on  to 
Colorado  and  Utah,  where  deserts  were  being  con 
verted  into  fertile  regions  by  diverting  the  streams. 

Utah  furnished  a  marvelous  lesson.  Whatever  might 
have  been  said,  or  may  now  be  said,  of  the  Mormons, 
when  they  entered  Utah  from  the  agricultural  lands 
of  the  North  and  the  East  where  rain-fall  supplied 
moisture,  they  had  no  knowledge  of  irrigation.  But  they 
experimented  by  diverting  the  water  upon  the  land,' 
while  they  had  very  little  food  except  roots,  wild  game, 
and  fish. 

The  hardship^  they  endured  while  they  were  work 
ing  out  for  themselves  the  problem  of  irrigation  have 
done  much  to  cement  and  build  up  the  Mormon  church. 


350         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

When  polygamy  is  eliminated  and  forgotten,  as  it  must 
be  as  time  passes,  the  history  of  the  Mormons  who 
created  a  great  State  in  a  desert,  more  than  a  thousand 
miles  from  supplies,  will  be  read  with  sympathy  and 
admiration. 

Our  committee  found  that  irrigation  had  been  prac 
ticed  under  the  supervision  of  the  Catholic  priests  who 
established  missions  in  California,  Arizona,  and  New 
Mexico,  and  that  the  American  people  who  were  occu 
pying  those  countries  at  the  time  of  our  visit  were 
improving  upon  the  ancient  systems,  and  gradually 
appropriating  the  water  available  in  developing  agri 
cultural  resources. 

The  committee  found  that  in  Idaho,  Montana, 
Wyoming,  and  Nevada  some  progress  had  been  made 
in  agriculture  by  irrigation.  The  larger  portion  of 
Texas  is  in  the  arid  and  semi-arid  region,  and  Senators 
Reagan  and  Jones  took  a  lively  interest  in  the  develop 
ment  of  irrigation  in  Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Arizona, 
their  immediate  Western  neighbors.  These  Senators 
were  very  influential  throughout  the  South,  and  made 
irrigation  popular  in  nearly  every  State  south  of  Mason 
and  Dixon's  line. 

Before  the  organization  of  the  Committee  on  Irri 
gation,  Senator  Teller  and  myself  appreciated  the  neces 
sity  of  withdrawing  from  sale  reservoir  sites  required 
for  the  storage  of  water  for  irrigation.  The  extent  of 
the  reservations  for  that  purpose  was  not  sufficiently 
guarded,  for  we  did  not  anticipate  that  more  land  than 
was  necessary  would  be  withdrawn  from  the  market  by 
the  Interior  Department. 

The  ambition  of  Major  Powell  to  manage  the  whole 
subject  of  irrigation,  without  regard  to  the  views  of 
others,  led  him  to  induce  the  Interior  Department  to 
withdraw  vast  regions  of  the  public  lands  preparatory 
to  the  selection  of  the  necessary  sites.  This  withdrawal 
of  public  land  from  settlement  practically  closed  many 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         351 

of  the  land  offices  in  the  West,  and  created  much  com 
plaint.  It  became  necessary  to  secure  legislation  to 
restore  the  public  domain  to  settlement. 

The  result  was  that  Major  Powell  was  removed  from 
his  powerful  position  as  Director  of  the  Geological 
Survey.  Great  dissatisfaction  existed  on  the  part  of  the 
Major  and  his  friends  on  account  of  the  action  of  Con 
gress,  and  as  if  by  some  general  and  secret  understanding 
articles  appeared  throughout  the  Northern  States 
unfriendly  to  irrigation.  The  farmers  were  told  by 
writers  who  gained  access  to  the  agricultural  press  that 
the  irrigation  of  the  arid  region  would  ruin  the  agricul 
ture  of  the  North  by  bringing  in  competition  a  vast 
region  of  country,  the  products  of  which  were  of  the 
same  character  as  those  of  New  England,  New  York, 
Pennsylvania,  and  all  the  Northwestern  States.  At 
nearly  every  session  of  Congress,  however,  the  Senators 
of  the  Mountain  States  of  the  West  continued  to  agitate 
the  question,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  Senators  from  the 
South  would  put  upon  various  appropriation  bills 
amendments  providing  for  National  aid  to  irrigation. 
But  our  amendments  were  never  considered  in  the 
House  of  Representatives ;  in  fact,  the  rules  of  the  House 
were  such  that  the  Republicans  of  the  North  prevented 
any  discussion  of  the  question  of  irrigation  in  that  body. 

When  President  Roosevelt  became  the  Chief  Execu 
tive  of  the  Nation  by  the  deplorable  death  of  President 
McKinley,  irrigation  had  a  powerful  friend  in  the  White 
House.  He  had  lived  in  the  mountain  regions  of 
the  West,  and  was  more  familiar  with  Montana, 
Wyoming,  Colorado,  and  New  Mexico  than  any  Repre 
sentative  from  any  of  those  States  or  Territories.  In 
his  first  message  he  urged  Government  aid  in  irrigation 
in  the  West,  and  in  private  conversation  with  all  who 
approached  him  on  that  subject  he  was  earnest  in  his 
advocacy  of  the  measure  he  recommended.  ggf|£roft  [ 

Senator  Hansbrough  of  North  Dakota  introduced  a 


352         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

bill  providing  for  National  irrigation,  and  referred  it 
to  the  Committee  on  Public  Lands,  of  which  he  was 
chairman,  because  it  was  considered  by  the  friends  of 
irrigation  that  that  committee  was  more  familiar  with 
the  subject,  and  more  enthusiastic  in  support  of  a  meas 
ure  of  that  kind,  than  the  Committee  on  Irrigation. 

After  the  bill  was  introduced  the  President  sug 
gested  various  amendments  to  perfect  it.  Senator  Hans- 
brough  in  time  reported  the  bill  to  the  Senate,  and  after 
full  explanation  and  debate  it  passed  the  Senate  unani 
mously,  went  to  the  House  of  Representatives,  and  was 
referred  to  the  Committee  on  Irrigation.  That  com 
mittee,  as  well  as  the  Committee  of  the  Senate,  kept  in 
close  touch  with  the  President,  and  took  his  advice  at 
every  stage  of  the  proceedings.  It  required  no  argu 
ment  to  secure  the  support  of  Representatives  of  the 
Southern  States,  as  they  had  been  in  favor  of  irrigation 
for  many  years.  It  was  not  necessary  to  educate  the 
President,  as  he  was  as  well  informed  as  anybody  in 
the  United  States.  He  sent  for  the  leading  Republican 
members  of  the  North,  and  appealed  to  them  to 
cease  their  opposition  and  permit  the  bill  to  pass  as  an 
Administration  measure.  The  bill  was  passed. 

Many  men  both  in  and  out  of  Congress  deserve  credit 
for  assisting  in  this  great  enterprise,  but  to  Theodore 
Roosevelt  the  country  owes  the  final  success  of  the 
measure. 

I  first  met  Edmund  Winston  Pettus  the  summer  of 
1850  at  Nevada  City,  California.  We  were  both 
miners,  and  a  warm  friendship  arose  between  us  which 
lasted  through  life.  He  was  a  genial  companion,  and 
knew  more  of  law  and  politics  than  any  other  young 
man  of  my  acquaintance.  He  had  been  a  lieutenant  in 
the  Mexican  War.  He  returned  to  his  home  in  Ala 
bama  in  1855,  and  I  did  not  see  him  again  until  his 
entry  into  the  United  States  Senate,  March  4,  1897. 
Although  a  man  much  past  middle-age  he  made  a  repu- 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart        353 

tation  for  himself  in  the  Senate  which  added  luster  to 
his  State.  He  did  not  believe  in  shams  and  took  a 
comical  view  of  buncombe  oratory. 

Senator  Albert  J.  Beveridge,  of  Indiana,  a  young, 
aggressive,  and  flowery  speaker,  had  occupied  the  atten 
tion  of  the  Senate  in  February  and  March,  1900,  in 
two  or  three  florid  and,  what  he  assumed  to  be,  com 
manding  orations.  A  bill  to  regulate  the  status  of  the 
people  of  Porto  Rico  was  under  consideration.  The 
debate  also  included  suggestions  with  regard  to  the 
government  of  the  Philippines.  Mr.  Pettus  took 
occasion  to  comment  on  the  oratorical  performances 
of  Senator  Beveridge,  and  made  one  of  the  most  humor 
ous  speeches  I  ever  heard  in  the  Senate. 

"Mr.  President,"  he  said,*  "we  had  a  wonderful 
declamation  yesterday  from  our  great  orator — wonder 
ful.  It  was  marvelous  in  all  its  parts.  It  was  so  mar 
velous  that  I  dare  say  such  a  thing  has  never  before 
been  heard  of  in  the  Senate  of  the  United  States.  When 
you  get  a  genuine  orator  he  is  absolutely  absolved  from 
all  rules  of  logic  or  common  sense.  When  it  is  neces 
sary,  in  the  fervor  of  oratorical  flourishes,  to  prove  any 
proposition,  true  or  false,  rules  of  common  sense  and  the 
decent  observance  of  what  is  due  to  others  must  not 
stand  in  the  way  of  maintaining  'my  reputation  as  a 
great  orator/  It  will  not  do.  If  it  is  necessary  I 
must  break  down  the  ideas  of  an  observance  of  what 
the  Senator  from  Vermont  [Mr.  Proctor]  charac 
terized  as  'the  best  policy.'  If  it  is  necessary  I  must 
'draw  on  my  imagination  for  my  facts  and  on  my 
memory  for  my  flights  of  fancy/  as  Ovid  Bolus  did. 
When  an  orator  speaks  he  has  a  right,  in  the  fervor  of 
his  oratory,  here  in  the  United  States  Senate,  in  refer 
ence  to  the  Republicans,  and  Democrats,  and  Populists, 
and  any  other  man  who  may  choose  to  take  a  seat  here, 

*Cong.  Record,  Vol.  33,  Part  IV,  56th  Cong.,  1st  Sess.,  page 
3509. 


354         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

to  speak  of  them  as  'enemies  to  the  Government.'  He 
has  a  right  to  speak  of  them  as  'opponents  of  the  Gov 
ernment.'  The  Government,  in  his  mind,  is  'me  and 
my  wife,  my  son  John  and  his  wife;  us  four,  and  no 
more.' 

"I  was  amazed  at  that  speech.  I  once  before  heard 
one  that  went  off  in  that  direction.  Oh,  I  tell  you  the 
senior  or  junior  Senator  from  Iowa — I  do  not  know 
which — and  the  senior  or  junior  Senator  from  Maine — 
I  do  not  know  which — will  have  to  take  some  action  in 
reference  to  that  orator.  There  is  no  doubt  about  it 
in  the  world.  There  will  have  to  be  some  caucus  on 
that  matter.  I  tell  you,  Mr.  President,  these  four  wise 
men  from  Maine  and  Iowa  could  not  devote  their  time, 
if  they  want  to  serve  their  party  well,  better  than  to 
take  some  consideration  of  the  orators  in  this  Chamber. 
Orators ;  yes ! 

"The  Master  once  had  to  select  a  man  to  lead  the 
children  of  Israel  out  of  Egypt  and  through  the  wilder 
ness  to  Canaan.  He  did  not  select  an  orator.  No;  he 
selected  one  of  these  men  from  Maine  or  Iowa,  and  his 
name  was  Moses.  And  he  was  a  stuttering  man,  too. 
But  Moses  told  his  Master  to  his  face  that  he  could  not 
do  it,  because  he  could  not  speak  to  the  people.  And 
what  was  the  reply?  'There  is  Aaron.  He  speaks  well.' 
And  they  took  Aaron  along,  not  in  command,  that  was 
not  allowed,  but  they  took  him  along  as  a  kind  of 
deputy;  and  when  Moses  on  his  Master's  order  went  up 
into  the  mountain  for  the  Tables,  the  orator  left  in 
charge  had  a  golden  calf  framed.  And  he  put  all  the 
people  down  to  worshipping  the  golden  calf.  More 
people  worship  the  golden  calf  now  than  did  in  those 
days.  But  while  Aaron  and  his  people  were  all  down 
worshipping  the  golden  calf,  the  man  of  God  appeared, 
and  he  pulled  out  his  sword  and  demanded  to  know 
'who  was  on  the  Lord's  side,'  and  the  orator  jumped  up 
from  his  knees,  drew  his  sword,  got  on  Moses's  side, 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         355 

and  went  to  killing  the  Israelites  along  with  Moses. 
All  these  orators  will  do  the  same  thing — the  last  one 
of  them.  We  saw  an  instance  of  it  yesterday  afternoon." 


CHAPTER   XL 

Conclusion — The  Pious  Fund  Case — I  argue  before  the  Hague 
Court  of  Arbitration— A  tribute  to  the  Dutch— I  retire  from  the 
Senate— Back  to  the  Nevada  gold  fields. 

The  Pious  Fund  Case  was  tried  in  the  fall  of  1902 
before  the  Court  of  Arbitration  authorized  by  The 
Hague  Convention  of  1899.  I  was  employed  with 
John  T.  Doyle  as  counsel  in  that  case,  and  argued  it 
as  senior  counsel  on  the  final  hearing.  The  case  grew 
out  of  donations  made  by  pious  persons  in  the  eighteenth 
century  to  create  a  fund  for  the  civilization  and  con 
version  of  the  natives  of  California,  and  for  the  main 
tenance  and  support  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  that 
country.  This  fund  was  covered  into  the  Mexican 
treasury  by  decree  of  Octobei4  2"4,"T842,  with  an  under- 
g  on  the  part  of  Mexico  to  pay  interest  thereon 
for  the  purposes  intended  by  the  donators. 

After  the  sale  f of  California  to  tneTJnited  StaTes 
the  Mexican  Government  failed  to  pay  the  agreed 
interest  on  that  part  of  the  principal  belonging  to  the 
missions  of  upper  California.  There  had  been  a  pre 
vious  arbitration  and  an  award  made  to  the  United 
States  in  behalf  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  upper  Cali 
fornia,  but  the  Mexican  Government  denied  that  any 
thing  more  was  due.  Finally,  by  stipulation  with  the 
United  States,  it  was  agreed  that  the  question  should 
be  submitted  by  the  two  governments  to  the  permanent 
Court  of  Arbitration  under  The  Hague  Convention  of 
1899.  The  hearing  before  the  court  occupied  the  time 
from  September  15  to  October  14,  1902.  After  some 
two  or  three  weeks  of  deliberation  the  court  made 
an  award  in  favor  of  the  Catholic  Church  of 
$1,420,662.69  Mexican  money;  and  further  decreed 
that  the  Mexican  Government  should  pay  to  the 


Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart         357 

Catholic  Church  annually  the  sum  of  $42,050.99.  The 
Mexican  Government  has  complied  with  the  judgment, 
and  thus  the  Pious  Fund  Case  was  finally  settled. 

It  was  a  remarkable  case  in  many  respects.  It  arose 
before  the  Mexican  Revolution,  and  was  in  controversy 
by  negotiations  and  arbitration  between  the  United 
States  and  Mexico  from  1842  to  1902.  It  was  the 
first  case  submitted  to  the  permanent  Court  of 
Arbitration. 

While  at  The  Hague  I  took  opportunity  to  visit 
nearly  every  place  of  interest  in  Holland.  The  exist 
ence  of  that  little  kingdom  is  one  of  the  wonders  of  the 
world.  The  difficulties  encountered  and  labor  required 
to  create  a  flourishing  kingdom  below  the  water  level 
of  the  stormy  North  Sea  required  courage,  fortitude, 
industry,  and  endurance  beyond  the  comprehension  of 
this  generation;  but  the  accomplishment  of  what  now 
seems  miraculous  accounts  for  the  heroic,  determined, 
persevering,  and  unconquerable  qualities  of  the  Dutch. 
I  saw  more  to  admire  in  the  Dutch  character  and  in  the 
deeds  accomplished  by  that  people  than  in  any  other 
nation  in  Europe.  Every  man  in  whose  veins  the  blood 
of  Holland  circulates  is  liable  to  be  a  great  character. 

This,  is  conspicuously  illustrated  by  Theodore  Roose 
velt,  now  President  of  the  United  States,  and  by  the 
Boers  of  South  Africa,  who,  insignificant  in  num 
ber,  fought  the  British  Empire  to  a  standstill.  The 
odds  were  so  fearful  that  no  other  race  of  men  would 
have  dared  to  enter  the  contest.  The  heroic  deeds  of 
the  Hollanders  in  resisting  the  combined  powers  of 
Continental  Europe  for  more  than  half  a  century  can 
never  be  fully  described.  No  people  ever  suffered  more, 
endured  more,  or  fought  more  bravely  since  prehistoric 
times. 

I  retired  from  the  Senate  for  the  last  time,  March 
4,  1905,  and  returned  to  my  old  home  in  Nevada,  and 
with  a  four-horse  team  attached  to  a  camping-wagon 


358         Reminiscences  of  William  M.  Stewart 

spent  about  six  weeks  inspecting  the  mining  camps  of 
the  southern  part  of  the  State. 

I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  the  Bullfrog  mining 
district  was  more  promising  than  any  other  in  the  State. 
At  the  time  I  am  writing,  two  railroads  are  approaching 
Bullfrog  from  the  south,  and  another  is  contemplated 
from  the  north,  making  this  a  central  point  for  a  very 
extensive  and  wonderfully  rich  mining  region.  I  located 
in  Bullfrog  in  May,  1905.  I  have  built  a  commodious 
office  and  furnished  it  with  a  law  library  of  about  three 
thousand  volumes,  and  have  also  built  a  dwelling-house 
with  all  the  necessary  conveniences,  where  I  reside  with 
my  family,  consisting  of  my  second  wife  and  her  little 
daughter. 

My  wife  is  a  strong  character,  endowed  with  the 
rare  gift  of  common  sense,  and  although  she  is  unac 
customed  to  Western  life  she  adapts  herself  to  the  situa 
tion  with  readiness  and  ease,  and  makes  my  home  more 
delightful  than  it  would  be  in  any  other  part  of  the 
world.  We  are  not  compelled  to  look  abroad  for  excite 
ment  or  entertainment.  New  developments  and  new 
discoveries  are  more  agreeable  than  the  vanities  of 
society  and  the  passing  shows  of  large  cities. 

The  climate  is  excellent.  It  is  free  from  severe  cold 
in  winter,  and  the  heat  in  summer  is  not  as  uncom 
fortable  as  it  is  in  the  inland  country  of  the  Northern 
States.  The  elevation  at  my  office  and  residence  is 
3,575  feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  and  the  cool 
breezes  at  night  make  it  a  comfortable  place  to  sleep 
in  the  hottest  weather. 

At  the  present  time  I  am  engaged  in  my  profession 
of  the  law,  and  acquiring  interests  in  mines  and  assist 
ing  in  their  development.  The  fascinating  business  of 
mining  is  a  perennial  source  of  hope.  It  inspires  both 
mental  and  physical  vigor,  and  promotes  health  and 
contentment. 


